Globally, companies and businesses are grappling with high operational costs amidst a predicted economic slowdown. To mitigate these challenges, organizations are implementing various measures to boost productivity. One trend that is being explored is changes to the work week.
While some companies opt for shorter work weeks, with the four-day work week being the most popular, others are leaning more toward six-day work weeks. As of July 1st, Greece became the first EU country to introduce a six-day working week.
Impact of a six-day working week on business
Greece is currently battling a labor shortage crisis whose root cause is believed to be the 2009 financial crisis that the country experienced. The crisis resulted in large numbers of young Greeks leaving the country in search of better prospects abroad. The legislation approving six-day work weeks in Greece was initially passed last year as part of a broader set of labor laws but has been received with great controversy. While the state advocates for the changes, other stakeholders have termed the move as a step back in civilization.
As the new law takes effect, private businesses that can and do provide services round the clock will now have the option to have employees work an additional two hours per day or an extra eight-hour shift. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has occasionally said his government is pro-business, has backed the move, emphasizing that it will boost productivity and employment in the country. This new regulation hopes to increase the number of businesses that run 24-hour operations and thus result in increased profitability and efficiency.
Businesses such as top online casinos that operate 24/7 already enjoy high profitability — revenue from the online casino market in Europe is projected to reach US$20.45bn by the end of 2024. The European Union’s manufacturing industry has also benefited from long work weeks as the region focuses on recovery and growth of production of manufactured goods.
Opponents of this new law argue that the Greek workforce is already overburdened as they work the longest hours compared to other countries in the European Union. These claims are backed by a 2022 research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which found that Greek employees had worked an average of 1,886 hours while the EU average was 1,571 hours. Workers in Greece were found to have worked more than workers in the U.S. and Japan.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis has reiterated that this change of the traditional 40-hour workweek to possibly 48 hours per week is “worker-friendly” and “deeply growth-orientated.” According to the government, this new measure will see employees who were previously not being sufficiently compensated for overtime work now better supported.
Niki Kerameus, the labor and social insurance minister, also claims that the introduced extra day will allow businesses to address “urgent operational demands” that, given the current shortage of workers, would not have been addressed. Greece’s governing body also hopes that this new regulation will remedy the problem of undeclared labor that is plaguing not only the country but the entire EU.
Impact of a four-day working week on business
As Greece implements a six-day work week, other EU countries have gone the opposite direction and are working with four-day work weeks instead. The conversation began in 2018 but picked up momentum during the COVID-19 era and has seen gradual adoption since then. The driving force behind the shorter work weeks without a pay cut has been the growing need to reduce burnout and enhance productivity in the workspace.
In February 2024, Europe’s largest economy, Germany, saw 45 companies introduce a four-day workweek for half the year. This move was taken to increase worker productivity and ease the country’s labor shortage. At the end of 2023, Lamborghini announced that its production workers in Italy would enjoy a four-day week moving forward after a deal with labor unions was reached. Germany, Finland, and Portugal also introduced four-day workweeks in 2023.
In 2015, Iceland became the first European country to pilot a 36-hour workweek with approximately 2,500 employees. Since then, almost 90% of the country’s population has cut their hours back, and as of 2021, the shift has been declared hugely successful.
In March, Senator Bernie Sanders pushed to reduce the standard workweek in the US from 40 hours to 32 hours. While this bill—which is not the first to address the issue of work weeks in the US—did not pass, it propelled the conversation on shorter work weeks that is quickly catching momentum in the country.
A 2022 study in the UK that involved 2,900 employees reported that a four-day workweek significantly improved the work-life balance of surveyed employees. Job satisfaction was also reported to have improved, and employee stress levels were reduced. Furthermore, the study revealed that businesses received fewer absences and sick days thanks to the shorter workweek. As Greece moves forward with the controversial six-day workweek, we can only wait to see if the desired output of increased productivity and employment will be achieved.
