Will a four-day work week solve Germany’s labour shortage?

Counterintuitively, a new German experiment is testing whether working less can actually help overcome a labour crunch.

Germany, Europe’s industrial powerhouse, is struggling with a critical labour shortage. By some estimates, two million jobs across the economy are vacant, and half of the country’s companies are unable to find enough workers.

Faced with this crisis, dozens of firms are testing a strategy that, on the surface, at least, might appear counterintuitive: getting workers to work fewer days.

In early February, 31 companies in Germany began a “four-day” work week pilot. The initiative is being led by not-for-profit company, 4 Day Week Global (4DWG), and management consultancy, Intraprenör. Another 14 companies are joining the initiative in March.

The German public research university, University of Münster, will carry out a scientific evaluation of the six-month-long trials, in which up to 600 employees are expected to participate.

The 4DWG, which has been conducting similar trials in many other countries, believes that reducing work days, while keeping pay at the same levels, would result in productivity gains for companies and improved wellbeing of employees, motivating a stretched workforce. The approach could also attract people to the workforce who can’t work five days a week, helping ease the labour crunch.