Sanna Marin, Finland’s new prime minister, has proposed that the country adopt a four-day work week consisting of six-hour work days.
She is a mother of one and also the youngest serving prime minister in the world.
According to CNBC, Marin has said that “people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones, hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture.”
On Jan. 1, 2020, Finland introduced a new Working Hours Act. Under this Act, most full time employees are able to decide when and where they work for at least half of their working hours.
Actually, the idea of a reduced work week has been experimented on in the corporate world and has gained a fair bit of traction in recent years.
In August 2019, Microsoft Japan launched a four-day work week trial for its 2,300 employees and found that productivity soared by 40%.
According to The Guardian, reducing working days is also good for the environment.
If working hours were cut by 25%, it would result in 36.6% reduction in the average person’s carbon footprint.
In short, employees travel less and less carbon emissions. Working less also means consuming less electricity for air-conditioning and computer systems, which typically use up a lot of power.
Boss, isn’t it a good idea?! What do you think?
Source : CNBC