IG Metall advance: What will the four-day week bring?

IG Metall demands less work for the same wages. The debate has been going on for a long time. But can the four-day week keep what it promises? Here are the most important questions and answers about the models.

By Antonia Mannweiler, tagesschau.de

What is required?

In the months from April to June, with the many public holidays and shorter weeks, employers and employees get to feel what is currently being heatedly debated: equal pay with shorter working hours.

The discussion about the four-day week has not only been going on for a short time, but a union heavyweight has recently poured new fuel into the fire: IG Metall announced this week that the next collective bargaining round for the steel industry would include the four-day week to demand with full wage compensation. For the first time, the demand is aimed at a collective, collectively agreed claim for employees in an entire industry, said IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann. The working time should therefore drop from the previous 35 to 32 hours. And Hoffmann confirmed that the demand also had an impact beyond the steel industry.

What does the four-day week mean?

There are two main models for the four-day week that are up for debate. In the first model, the weekly working hours are reduced with the same wages, from 40 to 32 hours – or as the IG Metall demands for the steel industry – from 35 to 32 hours a week. The model usually follows the so-called “100-80-100” approach. For 80 percent work, 100 percent of the salary is paid – with 100 percent productivity.

In a second model, on the other hand, only the hours would be redistributed from five days to four working days. So if you previously worked eight hours a day in a 40-hour week, you would now have to work ten hours in a four-day week. In the ideal case, however, overall productivity should not suffer under either model. The goal is always to get as much done in four days as in five.

How are the reactions?

There are properly different reactions to the recent advance of IG Metall. The left, for example, supports the union’s plans. “The four-day week is not an unworldly fantasy, but has long been practice in some countries,” said co-party leader Martin Schirdewan. He added that the shortened workweek is also good for the climate by reducing commuting and energy bills.

The Steel Employers’ Association itself was unimpressed by IG Metall’s proposals. The 35-hour week has been in force in the metal industry for decades. From the employer’s point of view, shortening this further is out of the question. “The demand comes completely at the wrong time,” said Gerhard Erdmann from the executive board of the steel employers’ association. Employers are already struggling with high energy cost increases and the cost of transforming the industry.

On the employer side, there is little understanding for reduced working hours. In contrast to the demand to reduce working hours, Sigfried Russwurm, head of the Federation of German Industries, advocated increasing weekly working hours to 42 hours last year in order to combat the shortage of skilled workers.

What do economists say about reduced working hours?

For IG Metall, the step from the 35-hour week to 32 hours is no longer so big, says labor market researcher Enzo Weber from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) at the request of tagesschau.de. However, Weber sees no need to replace the rigid five-day model with a rigid four-day model. He would be “cautious” about prescribing a four-day week for everyone without exception. Anyone who previously worked 40 hours less a week but received the same salary had to work 25 percent more every hour to compensate for the working hours. In the vast majority of jobs, however, this is unthinkable, according to Weber. You can’t drive as many buses or care for as many people in four days as in five days. Instead, the expert advocates self-determined working hours and more flexibility. The right to part-time work already exists in Germany.

Christoph Schröder from the German Economic Institute (IW) also emphasized in an interview tagesschau.dethat there are already certain regulations to work less – and to forego wages. In individual cases, a four-day week can help attract skilled workers. In his opinion, the introduction of the four-day week across the board would increase the shortage of skilled workers.

Due to the enormous shortage of workers in many areas, employees and unions are likely to have the upper hand in the future. “Therefore, in case of doubt, we will see strong wage increases,” said Stefan Kooths, head of economics at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. “It’s now up to the companies and unions how they negotiate it – whether it will turn into a four-day week remains to be seen.”

Does the four-day week already exist?

The legal entitlement to a four-day week has been in force in Belgium since November 2022, but only for the first variant of the shortened working week: the 40 hours a week would then have to be worked in four days. Employees who want to reduce the number of hours worked per week, on the other hand, must expect a pay cut.

In Iceland, 2,500 workers were allowed to try out the four-day week for four years. The 40-hour week was reduced to 36 or 35 hours with the same wages. With the end of the trial, most workers in Iceland were given the right to shorter working hours.

And the results of the UK’s largest attempt to date a four-day week have also recently caused a stir. Based on experience, 56 of 61 companies with a total of around 2,900 employees decided to keep the four-day week.

What are the advantages of the four-day week?

According to the Autonomy think tank, which accompanied the studies in Iceland and Great Britain, productivity in companies could be increased – or at least maintained. In addition, sick days in Great Britain fell by around two thirds and fewer employees left the company during this period. Workers who took part in the experiment also reported being less stressed. The test series was thus rated as a success.

Philipp Frey, labor market researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, said MDR recently that companies are being forced to think about implementing the four-day week. For example, meetings are drastically reduced or investments are made in new technologies to increase productivity. In return, the employees have more time for relaxation, leisure activities, sports or their families. Another point raised by advocates of the four-day week is the increasing competition for labour, with companies with a shortened working week becoming more attractive to skilled workers.

Another advantage of a four-day week is the environmental aspect: if you drive to work by car or bus less often, you also emit less CO2.

What are the disadvantages?

It is not practically possible to implement a four-day week with the same salary in every occupational group – if productivity is not to suffer as a result. These include jobs in nursing or education. Capacity limits are already being reached there.

The feasibility of the four-day week is also likely to be a major problem in many companies. For example, IW labor market researcher Schröder emphasizes that blast furnaces in the steel industry, in which the four-day week is required, have to run continuously, which means that shifts have to be reorganized. There it would not be easy to increase productivity with a reduction in working hours – which could also have an impact on the costs: In the worst case, this could result in company closures, relocations, waiver of wage increases or layoffs.

Schröder points out that the transferability of the results from the study in Great Britain must also be treated with caution. The companies volunteered and were accompanied and coached to deal better with the shorter working hours. One has to ask the question of how one can increase productivity by reducing working hours without working hours becoming more stressful, says Schröder.