Societies explore reduced working hours, testing models like four-day weeks to boost well-being and productivity amid modern labor shifts.
🔗 Read the article on hvg.hu
[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]
Societies across various countries are discussing reducing working hours, with some testing four-day workweeks through pilot programs. While many employers and policymakers criticize this initiative, research suggests reduced working hours can improve employee quality of life, mitigate burnout, and potentially increase productivity. This discussion is timely given rapid changes in the labor market due to automation, remote work, and demographic challenges, leading sociologists to believe current employment models are unsustainable without adaptation. Poland has launched a one-year pilot program testing various four-day week formats, aiming to address demographic crises and encourage longer workforce participation through models like 32-hour weeks with full pay or flexible scheduling. Although some European countries have experimented with reduced hours—such as Germany’s temporary 28-hour weeks in certain sectors—the concept of the “100:80:100 model” (full pay for 80% time while maintaining output) is gaining traction globally, with hundreds of companies adopting similar arrangements since the pandemic. EU labor regulations currently allow a maximum average weekly working time of 48 hours, sometimes up to 60 hours, and Hungary is noted as one country where its labor laws permit 60-hour workweeks. Experts caution that official statistics on reduced working hours in the EU can be misleading due to an increase in part-time employment or underreporting of unpaid overtime, suggesting actual full-time workload may remain unchanged since the 1980s. The ongoing debate centers on balancing economic competitiveness with employee well-being, and international attention is focused on the results of Polish trials as a guide for adapting working hours to 21st-century realities.
