Four-day work week is proving its worth

While some companies are rowing back on remote working, many are experimenting with solutions that offer employees more flexibility and autonomy. These include the option of working from home, of course, but also things like flexitime and the four-day week.

Flibco CEO Tobias Stüber made headlines in 2023 with his small revolution for the Luxembourg working world. While countries such as Belgium had already introduced the option for the four-day week years ago, this was not yet an issue for Luxembourg. But Stüber took the risk and his Flibco employees tested the 32-hour week, without any loss of holiday or salary. Flibco is a transport company concentrating on short- and medium-distance bus lines to airports. It is part of Sales-Lentz and primarily operates in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

A real win-win situation

“There were many reasons in favour of introducing it at the Luxembourg site,” Stüber told the Luxemburger Wort. On the one hand, the company’s headquarters are in Luxembourg, where departments such as marketing and administration are located, making their expertise available centrally for other locations. “We want to be innovative and create a real win-win situation. Other countries are showing us that it works, even if many companies of tomorrow are unfortunately still run by managers from the day before yesterday.”

Flibco CEO Tobias Stüber took the risk and introduced the 32-hour week.  © Photo credit: Laurent Sturm

“There were many reasons in favour of introducing it at the Luxembourg site,” Stüber told the Luxemburger Wort. On the one hand, the company’s headquarters are in Luxembourg, where departments such as marketing and administration are located, making their expertise available centrally for other locations. “We want to be innovative and create a real win-win situation. Other countries are showing us that it works, even if many companies of tomorrow are unfortunately still run by managers from the day before yesterday.”

For him, the move to a four-day week was the consequence of an intensive “change management” process at various levels that lasted more than four years. “In my opinion, it is exactly the right decision for an innovative professional future for my employees in Luxembourg – towards a modern way of working,” he said. Flexibility and a sense of responsibility among all employees are key to the successful implementation of such an initiative.

Could this also work in the financial sector? The co-operative PSD Bank Braunschweig in Germany asked its employees about their initial experiences following the introduction of the four-day working week.

PSD Bank convinced

According to Carsten Graf, spokesman for the executive board, the results are clearly in favour of the model. The changeover has had a positive effect on motivation and the sickness rate has almost halved. He rejected claims that productivity was suffering as a result of a shorter week.

“The survey proves that the switch to the four-day week has been a complete success. I did not expect the survey to be so clear-cut,” Graf said in an interview with Bloomberg. The survey was scientifically monitored by the Eichenberg Institute. “In view of the results, I see no reason to move away from the four-day week.”

PSD Bank Braunschweig switched to the new working time model in September 2023. Alongside other institutions from the cooperative sector, it is one of the pioneers in this area. For smaller banks in rural areas in particular, recruiting and retaining employees has become a challenge due to the shortage of skilled labour and demographic change. They are trying to score points as employers with offers such as a four-day week.

Graf has been Spokesman of the executive board since mid-2011 and is responsible for human resources and market management, among other things.  © Photo credit: PSD

PSD Bank Braunschweig switched to the new working time model in September 2023. Alongside other institutions from the cooperative sector, it is one of the pioneers in this area. For smaller banks in rural areas in particular, recruiting and retaining employees has become a challenge due to the shortage of skilled labour and demographic change. They are trying to score points as employers with offers such as a four-day week.

In the PSD Bank Braunschweig survey, 85% of respondents said that they would opt for the four-day week again if they had the choice. Around three-quarters of respondents said that the new working model enabled a better work-life balance and that the changeover had a positive effect on work motivation overall.

Change when others demand more

“57% say that the workload has increased slightly. But it would also be strange if that wasn’t the case when switching to a four-day week,” Graf said. The move has apparently had a positive effect on health. According to Graf, the average number of sick days per employee has almost halved to nine days compared to the previous year.

The switch to shorter working weeks comes at a time when leading representatives of the financial sector are calling on Germans to work more to boost the economy.

Helaba CEO Thomas Groß, for example, said: “We will have to work harder again. We will have to make an effort. We will also have to work harder.” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said that investors were “doubting Germany’s and Europe’s ability to perform, but even worse, their willingness to perform”.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing is sceptical about the four-day week. © Photo credit: WEF

Helaba CEO Thomas Groß, for example, said: “We will have to work harder again. We will have to make an effort. We will also have to work harder.” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said that investors were “doubting Germany’s and Europe’s ability to perform, but even worse, their willingness to perform”.

Graf has not noticed any loss of productivity when switching to the four-day week. “Quite the opposite. We had even raised the target for lending in 2024 from €100 million to €130 million – and almost achieved it,” he said. The targets in the cooperative network were also exceeded. “For the first time in the bank’s history, we received a bonus payment of 150% from Union Investment for the sale of fund products.”

This is in line with the results of the employee survey. Here, 65% of employees stated that productivity had increased, while 30% did not perceive any changes. “I’m not saying that all banks need to switch to the four-day week. But it is a successful model for us,” Graf said.

(This article appeared in the Luxemburger Wort. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson.)