Portugal is the latest country to attempt a four-day workweek, and the government is helping the participating enterprises.
Portugal is the most recent nation to try out a four-day workweek, and the government supports companies that make the transition.
In a press statement from the nonprofit organization 4 Day Week Global, 39 private-sector enterprises nationwide will simultaneously engage in a government-funded pilot program for the next six months. The 4 Day Week Global group has been behind numerous high-profile four-day workweek trials worldwide.
Dr. Dale Whelehan, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, stated, "We are delighted to be working with the Portuguese government on this pilot, commend them for their leadership, and encourage other jurisdictions to act quickly," as reported by Personnel Today.
The Four-Day Workweek Trial in Portugal
According to CNBC, employers have agreed to decrease workers' hours without lowering their compensation by adopting the 100-80-100 model. This is where employees get 100% of their regular pay for producing 100% of their customary production 80% of the time.
Around 72% of the Portuguese workforce spends more than 40 hours per week, making Portugal a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with the third-longest average workweek behind the United Kingdom and Ireland. This is based on a study conducted by experts at the University of London and the University of Reading, which is in charge of the program.
The majority of the companies participating in the experiment are in the scientific and technological domains. However, the program's cohort also includes a nursery, care home, stem cell bank, research and development center, and other entities from the manufacturing, retail, and nonprofit sectors.
This experiment aims to determine whether a shorter workweek would help businesses retain more of their employees by lowering their stress and burnout experience.
Researchers in Portugal are interested in the potential financial, social, and environmental effects of switching to a four-day workweek.
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4 Day Week Global and Its Mission
Over the course of the pandemic, companies and workers started to re-evaluate the contemporary work experience, and 4 Day Week Global led numerous high-profile trials across the globe.
US employees who participated in a study last year reported increased productivity and less burnout as a result. Some workers even said they would never work a regular 9-to-5 schedule again, even if offered a substantial wage increase.
Business owners saw a rise in revenue of 8% during the trial period and 38% compared to the same period the year before. Thus they profited as well.
Better health, financial stability, and interpersonal connections were reported by participants in 4 Day Week Global's biggest trial yet, which spanned the whole of the UK last year and included over 3,000 employees.
Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Japan, Sweden, and other countries have all experimented with a four-day workweek, according to Euronews.
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