Pilot project: four-day week is also being tested in Germany

From February 2024, Germany will be testing the four-day week as a pilot project for six months. The whole thing is being initiated by the management consultancy Intraprenör, which is working together with the non-profit organization 4 Day Week Global (4DWG).
According to the Tagesschau report, there are two models for the four-day week: one is the so-called compressed four-day week, which is already enshrined in law in Belgium, for example. Here, employees complete the previous volume of work on just four days – with a 40-hour week, a working day can be extended from eight to ten hours a day.
In the other model, working hours are not compressed but reduced – employees no longer work 40 hours per week, but only 32 – and usually with the same pay. This variant is also being tested in the German pilot project. The project will then be evaluated at the University of Münster.

Several countries – such as the UK, Spain, and Iceland – have already tested them, and the study situation is correspondingly extensive. This was the case in the UK, for example: In 2022, 61 companies there with around 2,900 employees tested the four-day week for six months and were convinced: 56 companies subsequently decided to keep the model for the time being. According to the study, employees were more balanced and healthier, and productivity even increased.