Shafaqna – A German study showed that limiting the working days per week to 4 days helps to improve the mental health of employees.
For 6 months, 41 German companies participated in a program launched by the company “Intrapreneur“, which involves reducing working hours, or even limiting themselves to 4 working days a week, a is a historic request from unions in Germany.
The University of Münster and the international initiative “4 Day Week Global” also took part in coordinating the project, which now involves 8 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Portugal.
The main conclusion of the German study was that the 4-day working week without any change in the number of working hours per week ensures “significant” progress the employee’s mental and physical health.
This was monitored for 6 months using smart watches, hair samples and self-assessment.
On average, participants spent 178 minutes less stressed during the week compared to 191 minutes before the experiment began.
They exercised more and slept an average of 38 minutes more each week.
The researchers predicted that these “positive effects” on health would lead to a “long-term reduction in absenteeism from work.”
Those included in the study believed that their productivity had increased slightly, but that their workload had not changed at the same time.
But the study was cautious about the issue of productivity, and pointed out other limitations.
For example, the 4-day working week has not been proven to increase a company’s profits, or reduce sick leave or its carbon footprint.
However, after the experiment, 39 percent of companies decided to adopt a 4-day work week, and 34 percent said they would continue with the experiment.
Between 10 and 50 employees work in more than half of the companies included in the study, in the services, manufacturing or construction sectors.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, working 4 days a week has become an ongoing topic of discussion in Germany.
* News sources
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2024-10-19 13:32:00
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