Germany’s struggle to revive its sluggish economy is about to take an experimental turn as a host of companies test out the merits of working less.
A six-month programme starting on Feb 1 will grant an extra day off every week for hundreds of employees while keeping them on full pay. The study aims to find out if labour unions are right that a four-day work week could not only leave staff healthier and happier, but also more productive.
“I’m absolutely convinced that investments in ‘new work’ pay off because they increase well-being and motivation, subsequently increasing efficiency,” said Sören Fricke, co-founder of the event planner Solidsense, one of 45 companies taking part in the pilot.
“The four-day week, if it works, won’t cost us anything either in the long run.”
The project underscores a broader shift taking place in the German labour market, where a lack of skilled workers is putting pressure on companies to fill their ranks. The shortage — coupled with high inflation — has emboldened employees across industries to seek wage increases and preserve the flexibility and independence they gained during the pandemic.
The imbalance is fuelling employer-employee tensions. Germany’s train drivers are currently holding a six-day strike, demanding that Deutsche Bahn cut the work week to 35 hours from 38 without any wage reduction. The country’s construction union is asking for a pay rise of more than 20% for many of its 930,000 members — a move some economists warn could stoke inflation.
According to an industry lobby survey last year, half of German companies are at least partly unable to fill vacancies. The business software giant SAP stopped asking for university degrees from applicants in 2022, while the real estate firm Vonovia recruited people from Colombia last year to cope with the shortage.
And the problem is set to get worse: more than 7 million people are expected to leave the German labour force by 2035, as birthrates and immigration fall well short of what’s needed to replace the ageing population.
“I can either get involved and position myself as a modern company, or I can say that we all have to work more and at some point I won’t have anyone left to work for me,” said Henning Roeper, managing director of Eurolam, a Wiegendorf-based window maker that is also taking part in the programme. (Story continues below)
A worker cleans the windows of the Chancellery government building in Berlin. (Photo: Bloomberg)
Engagement deficit
Unhappy workers come at a hefty price tag. According to a recent Gallup study, low worker engagement cost the global economy €8.1 trillion ($8.8 trillion) last year. That’s 9% of global gross domestic product.
While staff work fewer hours during the experiment for the same pay, their output should stay steady — or even increase, according to the New Zealand-based non-profit group 4 Day Week Global, which is leading the pilot programme.
Aside from the boost in productivity, companies are also expected to benefit from a drop in costly absences due to stress, illness and burnout. The average 21.3 days Germans were incapable of working in 2022 meant a loss of a staggering €207 billion in value added, according to the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Advocates of the four-day week also argue it could attract untapped potential to the labour market in Germany — a country that has one of the highest proportions of part-timers in the EU, also among women, according to Eurostat.
While Germany has by far the biggest economic output in Europe, a lack of investment in innovation and digitisation has hindered productivity gains. Without improvements in those areas, it is unlikely German workers would see a significant productivity boost simply by cutting back hours, according to Enzo Weber, an economist at the Institute for Labor Market Research in Nuremberg.
Finance minister sceptical
Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a member of the business-friendly Free Democrats Party, has offered more pointed criticism of the shorter week, saying such a move would threaten economic growth and German prosperity.
But previous experiments in the US and Canada suggest gains are possible, according to 4 Day Week Global. Workers who took part reported improved physical and mental health while burnout dropped. Following the studies, none of the participating companies planned to return to a five-day week.
A programme in the UK, the biggest one yet with 61 participating companies, showed similar gains, including a 65% drop in sick days. In Portugal, anxiety levels and sleeping problems receded by roughly 20%.
The German companies are hoping for similar gains, and some participating workers plan to provide hair samples and data from fitness watches to track stress levels more accurately.
“If I have too much time I become a perfectionist, and this is not always necessary,” said Jasmin Galle, a user-experience designer at Solidsense. “If you have less time, you still get the same result.”
Belgium became the first European country to make a 4-day-week optional in 2022, though the total weekly hours must remain the same as in a five-day week. Japan has encouraged companies to offer shorter work weeks in hopes people will use the time to spend money and have children, boosting its economy and reducing the impact of an ageing population.
Jan Bühren, the co-founder of Intraprenör, a Berlin consultancy working with 4 Day Week Global on the pilot programme, said achieving the gains requires flexibility and creativity on the part of employers.
“Of course it doesn’t always work and it’s also not for everyone,” he said. “But you just have to find out exactly where it can work and where it doesn’t.”