Reducing working hours in a four-day week implies changes that increase competitiveness, namely the use of technology, says four-day week pilot project coordinator Pedro Gomes.
Of the 41 companies that experimented with the four-day work week in Portugal (21 companies coordinated the start of the pilot project in June 2023), four dropped out (with a return to a five-day work week) and only needed to hire more workers.
These four changes, as Pedro Gomez, professor of economics at Birkbeck, University of London, said in a statement to Luse, occurred because the companies in question were unable to derive much operational benefit from this new organization of working time.
Pedro Gómez emphasizes that the four-day-a-week model involves a number of changes that increase productivity. This is the only way to reduce working hours by 20% and maintain competitiveness – after all, this model assumes, for example, maintaining workers’ compensation.
“The idea is not just to shorten working days, but to combine this with improving the organization of work over four days,” says the pilot project coordinator, pointing to changes such as fewer meetings or greater use of artificial intelligence. Intelligence (IA).
In connection with the completion of the year since the launch of the four-day week pilot project, a final report on the testing phase of this model was prepared, the publication of which is scheduled for the week of June 24 to 28.
This report will include data on the changes companies are making to reduce working hours, as well as the models adopted, as solutions vary, with some choosing to cut half a day a week, others two weeks out of nine. days or other days that shorten an entire day of the work week.
Pedro Gomes believes that after this pilot project, how companies, business associations and employee representatives will participate in this new way of organizing working time will be important.
Lusa asked the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security whether the government intends to continue with this type of project (which was started by the previous government), but an official source said that “it is awaiting the final report. The testing phase of the four-day week model, carried out in collaboration with companies and their employees who voluntarily decided to test the model.”
The third phase of the four-day workweek pilot project began on June 5 last year.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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