In the years of mature socialism, when Saturday’s holiday was still a mirage, Bulgarians told each other jokes about the Serbian working week. According to the neighbors, Monday was a day off, Tuesday a day off, Wednesday a day off, Thursday a day off, and Friday a day off. And Tito’s opponents asked – will we work every Wednesday?
Now in Europe, the four-day working week is on the agenda, and in our country we are still wondering if it is really possible to work less and get paid for a full-time job. Maybe, but we need to significantly increase our efficiency, experts say.
The model has 4 days of work, 3 days off, and the salary is already being tested in many companies in different countries around the world. It sounds great, but employers are not ready to leave their “donkey in the mud” and make a demand that sounds like “100: 80: 100”. This means 100% pay for 80% of working time in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity. And no, the bosses of these companies are not such philanthropists and do not innovate with good heart.
Experience has shown that a stressed, overworked and demotivated employee cannot give the best results in his work.
Last month, Britain announced that six major companies, including the British division of Japan’s Sanon, would take part in a pilot project for the introduction of a four-day event.
For half a year the hypothesis will be tested that the reduction of working hours increases the productivity of the business and the well-being of the population. Πpoektat e in low initsiativa na Andpyu Bapnc and Shaplot Lokxapt, novozelandcki ppedppiemachi, koito ca “nappavili” papite ci from the financi and ppavo, Toughened ea ctanat cped papvite, dokazali, flashover izickvaneto to pepconala ea paboti in low-malko chacove povishava ppoizvoditelnoctta and makes them more -responsible for work.
There has been talk of a 4-day working week around the world and in our country for a long time, and this is mostly related to the frantic pace of life and the increasingly frequent manifestations of “burnout”. Before the pandemic, several Bulgarian companies also embarked on the experiment, as the nature of their work allowed it. The Ruse consulting company in the field of public procurement “EPA 2000” is pleased with its experience. According to the manager Petar Petev, the working atmosphere has improved and the motivation of the people has greatly increased. “Now, due to the pandemic and the introduction of a home office, things have changed a lot,” Petar Petev said with regret to Maritsa. People don’t have working hours, and when they have work, they do it.
The communication in the company has changed – general chats, video operatives, the organization is completely different, he says about the company’s daily life. However, he describes the beginning of his experiment as follows: free day. That turned out to be a very motivating factor. ” The manager also has a company in the field of agriculture. There he also proved to be an innovator. In the active season, the workers worked hard, and in 3 months in the winter they rested, receiving wages. So he de facto had no seasonal workers, but something much more valuable – faithful, experienced and well-trained people.
However, the 4-day working week is not applicable to every business, even with the best wishes of the team and management. It cannot be applied to manufacturing companies that have continuous orders, nor to the service sector – restaurants, hotels, shops. The only option for such businesses is to have more staff and therefore have more money for a salary fund. In this way, they could divide the teams into two – the first to work from Monday to Thursday, and the second – from Wednesday to Sunday with one day of overlap.
A similar scheme has been used since 2019 by the Varna accounting firm SKK Delta Consult, and the beginning coincided with the introduction of new software in the company. The partner in the law firm Tsvetelina Velikova said in a TV interview that it was of paramount importance to explain to the workers exactly what the plan is to deal with the volume of work provided for 4 days instead of 5, without causing additional stress. The company distributes part of the team on Monday and another part on Friday, so that the rest can rest on one of the two days.
The working hours of the accounting firm remained unchanged, so that the clients did not feel the change at all. Formally, everyone working in the company under contract continues to have a 5-day working week and an 8-hour working day, because the Labor Code has not yet provided for a situation with a 4-day week. The result of “SKK Delta Consult” in short: employees are more motivated, deadlines for tasks are shortened not without the help of specialized software, and customers have not felt the change at all. No new employees have been hired.
Solves problems in financial crises
Romanian airline Tarom, in the height of the tourist season last summer, announced it was moving to a 4-day working week. Here, however, the case is different. Employees’ salaries were reduced. And it wasn’t just the covid-19 health crisis and reduced travel that was to blame, but the airline’s long financial problems. This was one way Tarom cut costs.
By the way, the supporters of the shorter working week have an unexpected trump card in their favor – this new approach will reduce the carbon footprint worldwide.
And workaholics in Japan are ready for a long weekend
Surprisingly, the world’s biggest workaholics, the Japanese, are considering such a change in the work process. They are known as disciplined, patient, resilient and highly productive workers. Literally – work to death. They also have the Japanese phenomenon “kaposhi”, or “death from work”. A 2016 study found that one in five employees in Japan was at a loss, and almost a quarter of the companies insisted that employees work 80 hours a day.
Thus, several hundred people die each year from accidents or other medical problems caused by work and life. Many others are self-deprecating. This has forced lawmakers in the Land of the Rising Sun to pass a law restricting overtime.
Yaponckoto podpazdelenie na Mіsroѕoft already made the first test of chetipidnevna pabotna cedmitsa and he pokaza zabelezhitelni pezyltati.Texnologichniyat gigant pegictpipa pochti 40% ckok in nivata na ppoizvoditelnoct 23% drop in costs, less power consumption and 58.7% less printed paper pages.
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