Many people dream of the four-day week, as the reactions to a false report from Finland show. For a start, even less rigid working hours would help.
A Commentary by Carla Baum, 9 January 2020
The news was too good to be true: New Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin proposes a four-day week with only six hours a day. The alleged plans of the Finnish coalition government spread rapidly in social media at the beginning of the week. A 34-year-old mother, the youngest head of government in the world, is blowing a breath of fresh air not only into politics but also into the world of work. That suited. But it was not. A little later the Finnish government made it clear on Twitter that the four-day week was not part of the new government programme, but merely an idea that Marin had presented at a panel discussion in August.
The enthusiasm that this false news triggered can be interpreted as a symptom of a longing for more time, more variety, a daily routine that do not just work and an evening off that is often filled with organisational stress.
The desire for a four-day week is naturally based on the dream of more leisure time. But not all female employees want or are able to work less. For many, it would be enough to be more flexible. Because working, which often means nine-to-five, Monday to Friday. At 7.15 a.m. the alarm clock rings, at 7.25 a.m. the shower runs, at 7.50 a quick coffee, at 8.11 a.m. the S-Bahn leaves. Five days a week, 250 a year, every day the colleague greets in a morning chat.
The digitalised working world of the 21st century actually allows us to break out of these rigid constructs. It is long since time for more flexibility. But companies are far too hesitant to comply with this wish. Although many advertise family-friendliness and flexible working hours, in reality, they limit themselves to flexitime regulations and a few days of home office per year. Four-day weeks are currently only available at a few small, mostly young companies and for some employees of large tech companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
Trust instead of control
The fact that not many more employers are trying to do this can be explained on the one hand by the fact that they are holding on to old structures. The conference at 8 a.m.? We’ve always done this here. Many working relationships are also based on control: If the employees are sitting at their desks at fixed times, the boss can always check to see whether Mr Özcan prefers to chat over a coffee instead of calling the customer.
Flexibilization requires superiors to trust their employees. At the end of the day, what counts in any case is not how long Ms Friedrich takes a cigarette break, but that she has placed the order by Wednesday afternoon as planned. A study by the employer oriented Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (Institute of the German Economy) showed that flexible times and working relationships characterized by trust not only make employees more satisfied but also more productive. At the same time, managers must also set an example of flexible working hours themselves. If the boss is always sitting at her desk at 8 a.m. and is the last to leave the office – who dares to complete their tasks on four days and stay home on Fridays?
Source: Zeit Online
