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4 Days Working Model | Will it Work

4 Days Working Model, Will it Work? After the pandemic, as employees questioned the fact that there should be a life outside of work, shifted towards life rather than work, and realized the value of their talents, companies started to think about employees rather than thinking about themselves in today’s world.

Remember when working from home became a necessity, everyone was talking about how efficiently they worked, and that they had forgotten the concept of overtime, and that they were doing their job in the most efficient and perfect way without getting tired no matter what time it was. But in this working method, which was very enjoyable at first, inefficiencies began to arise with the beginning of normalization, and things began to turn around as managers began to control employees more.

4 Days Working Model! How it will Work?

Now there’s a new concept that’s being talked about and brought to life: work four days a week!

It is really an undeniable fact that the time spent during working hours will be productive no more than five hours, so what do we do in the rest of the hours? Answer; Socializing… As we all know, institutions are not one-man organizations, they need to be a team spirit. Relationship is one of the most important factors that feed team spirit, so the fact that employees communicate with each other and have strong relationships carries up team spirit.

Let’s see who practices the 4 days working and how and what are the results?

In September 2021, Spain piloted this model in designated companies and even allocated 50 million euros in incentives for voluntary participation in these companies. The results were a 20 percent reduction in absenteeism and a 20 percent increase in productivity.

The situation is a little different in Belgium; It was observed that giving employees the right to have the flexibility to fill the 38-hour working hours in four days by working 9.5 hours a day did not increase the productivity of the employees as much as expected in working life. As you can see, tying four days to certain conditions can sometimes backfire.

Iceland is the country that has the most efficiency in this regard. According to research reports, trials conducted between 2015 and 2019 have proven that employee productivity increases have extremely ncreased. The 90 percent positive result of the report led to the introduction of reduced working hours.

Examples From Countries!

The United Kingdom is one of the final decision-makers on this issue. The pilot study, which started in June 2022 with more than 3,000 employees, resulted in a 21 percent increase in efficiency, resulting in 56 of the 61 companies participating in the pilot making the program permanent. Company officials pointed out that in addition to the increase in productivity, absences have also noticeably decreased.

In the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Denmark, where working hours are relatively lower, the practice of working four days is welcomed by both employees and some companies. We will not be surprised if this decision becomes official in these countries in the future.

Are we productive?

Although the situation is more company-based outside European countries, the majority of employees in the surveys commissioned by the authorities are warm to the four-day working model. In a survey in the United States, 74 percent of employees said that they could do their work with the same results in four days.

As a result, the four-day working model is now entering our lives in some way, but although there are very optimistic tables about the results at the moment, we will see together whether the discourses of “we are productive, we are working very happily” at the beginning of the pandemic will continue when this model becomes normal on the part of the employees or whether the discourses of “this model is dead, let’s discuss working for three days” will come to light.

Semih Bulgur

I am a info worker for your information!

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