The Spanish government launched a pilot program on Friday to help SMEs in the industrial sector to reduce the weekly work time of their employees without lowering their wages, with the aim of boosting productivity.
This project, published in the Official Gazette, will be tested for two years in companies that wish to test organizational reforms likely to “generate an increase in productivity that offsets wage overruns,” the Ministry of Industry said in a press release. Interested companies must commit to reducing the weekly working time of their employees by at least 10% over a period of two years. This measure must affect at least 25% of its employees, specifies the ministry.
In exchange, they will receive state aid, intended to offset the impact caused by the reduction in working time on their production, but also the additional costs created by the establishment of this new organization, adds the press release. The objective is to analyze the effect of finally having a number of companies with “sufficient statistical representation” to analyze the effect of this measure on productivity, before possibly “extending it to the rest of the economy,” he insists.
The 4-day week tested in some companies
In recent years, several large companies have already tried or even adopted the four-day week in Spain, such as the telecommunications giant Telefónica or the ready-to-wear group Desigual, but rarely in the industrial sector and often often with a pay cut.
Despite these multiple initiatives, the four-day work week remains a sensitive issue in the country: the unions are mostly in favor, but the main business organization (CEOE) opposes it, considering it inapplicable in many sectors of activity.
Source: BFM TV
