Anyone who works a lot is still considered hardworking. That’s precisely why you should first listen to the regulars’ table, which has been discussing work for years. “It’s stressful at the moment,” says the first one at some point, “a lot to do,” adds the second, and the third nods. Oh, if only for all your hard work you had a little less week and a little more weekend!
And so on to Fürth, where regular table dreams come true. Because the local clinic is introducing what individual industrial and craft businesses are already trying out: the four-day week. At the beginning of November, the surgical nurses can decide whether they want to work four days a week instead of five. In this case, the days become a little longer, the salary remains the same. This means a better work-life balance for employees and better care for patients, according to a statement. The pilot project is initially limited to six months. And: “According to our research, we are the first clinic in Germany to dare to use this new working time model in the operating room.”
Seen in this way, the Fürth Clinic is not only a pioneer – but also right in the middle of a debate in which the four-day week is sometimes seen as the future and sometimes as the downfall of Bavaria. Some say it counteracts staff shortages and burnouts. Others consider it utopian and see the location’s performance at risk. What makes things even more complicated is that the five-day week does not allow general statements about how much people work. In some places there are even entire departments that mainly do their own work.
In any case, the modern working world has created such specialized activities that even the job profile of good friends often remains a mystery. What is he doing again? No idea. Rather than discussing the five or four-day week, the regulars’ table would rather discuss which lucky person is closest to the zero-day week. The odds also predict a head-to-head race for the next meeting – between the journalist and the representative of the insurance industry. In case the boss reads this: The insurance company is of course miles ahead.