February the 7th, 2024 – Several countries have been toying with the idea of shorter work weeks, but could a Croatian 4-day work week become a reality? For some companies, it seems it might.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in Germany, a six-month experiment of a four-day work week was recently launched. In 45 German companies, employees will work one day less per week for the exact same monthly salary, as reported by HRT. Would a Croatian 4-day work week be possible; what would be the effects of such a model be for both employers and employees?
“The level of productivity rises and companies generally can afford something like that. There are companies in Croatia that can afford it, and that number will only keep on growing,” said Hrvoje Stojić, chief economist of the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP)
He added that it should be borne in mind that the Croatian sectors of the economy are two to three times less productive compared to German sectors, so, as he said, it will likely take more time for this model to be accepted and to work well.
“Global studies that have been carried out so far say that productivity increases when people have a little more time to themselves, and the amount of sick leave decreases. People also suffer less with burnout, which is a disease of the modern age,” pointed out Nataša Bišćan, a consultant from BCG.
