4-Day Workweek Without Pay Cuts... Large-Scale Experiment Despite Opposition Calling It an "Economic Disaster" [Jjinbit]

Introducing a 'Four-Day Workweek for All' Is Not Easy

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is a shortened form of 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in changes in work.

Forty-five German companies have started experimenting with a four-day workweek from the beginning of this month. The core of the experiment is to reduce working hours to 80% of the previous level while maintaining the same salary and 100% productivity. In Germany, which has recently been suffering from labor shortages, this experiment is attracting attention as a potential key to improving productivity.

However, the government and academia do not view this favorably. The four-day workweek is considered a work system suitable only for certain companies or job categories and difficult to apply uniformly across all industries. Some argue that reducing working hours could instead harm the overall economy, with some even saying it could be "a disaster for the German economy."

Some companies on the ground are also giving up on the four-day workweek. Magyar Telekom, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom in Germany, recently announced that it will only continue the four-day workweek experiment, which has been ongoing for one year and six months, until the end of this month. The company initially conducted a four-month experiment with 150 employees in July 2022, which showed some results, and then expanded the experiment to 300 employees in October of the same year. However, it announced that it will return to the existing five-day workweek from next month.

Magyar Telekom explained, "The experiment made it clear that the four-day workweek cannot be uniformly applied to all employees," adding, "It was efficient for some employees but not for others," and thus decided to conclude the experiment.

Companies that embarked on the four-day workweek experiment are facing similar concerns as Magyar Telekom. There is growing skepticism that the four-day workweek itself is difficult to apply uniformly to everyone, not just specific industries.

Since the introduction of the existing five-day, 40-hour workweek in the 1920s, it has been established as a norm for 100 years. Moreover, industries and occupations have diversified immeasurably compared to 100 years ago, with new jobs and fields emerging, and working styles becoming more varied. Even within a single company, multiple fields and industries are diversified, so from the perspective of corporate management, it is impossible not to consider differences in work efficiency by department as well as fairness issues among employees when applying the four-day workweek uniformly.

Also, since productivity is important to companies and salary, which employees cannot overlook, is mainly determined based on working hours, it is difficult to narrow the gap in positions among company members regarding wage reduction issues caused by one less working day.

Jos? Mar?a Barrero, an economist and professor at the Instituto Tecnol?gico Aut?nomo de M?xico (ITAM), recently wrote in a column published by the American media outlet The Hill, "There is no magic in the four-day workweek," and pointed out, "There are various versions of the four-day workweek. The reason for these different versions is the reality that output and salary are generally proportional to working hours," urging consideration of a four-day workweek that fits reality rather than magic.

For Korean companies that have embarked on the four-day workweek experiment, this is also a difficult problem to solve easily. Since 2019, SK, last year Samsung Electronics, and this year POSCO and LG have started related experiments. In Korea, where it took decades to establish the five-day workweek, many conflicting interests are inevitable. However, in the global trend of the four-day workweek, discussions should not be avoided. By continuously facing and confronting these issues and evaluating the achievements and limitations, someday, just as the five-day workweek was applied, the four-day workweek will also be able to overcome the high 'wall' of uniform application.