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The Greek phrase meaning “slowly, slowly” describes the relaxed pace of life in a country renowned for its culture, history and the crystal clear Mediterranean waters.
As the country prepares to move to a six-day workweek in some industries, the idea may be hard for some workers to accept.
The Greek government Moving to a 48-hour workweekThe four-day workweek, set to begin Monday, could boost productivity amid a declining population and a shortage of skilled workers. The change is notable because it contrasts with other companies and countries experimenting with a four-day workweek.
Working long hours can help you hone your skills, but it can also lead to less productivity. Malaise Research suggests it can also lead to burnout.
Greek workers will see a 40% wage increase if they add two hours to their working day or add an eight-hour workday. The change, approved in September, applies to workers in industries such as agriculture, retail and various service industries, as previously reported by BI. It also applies to private companies that operate 24 hours a day.
Despite the increased pay for overtime hours, some union leaders have denounced the changes.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Akis Sotiropoulos of Adedi, a civil servants union, told The Guardian. “At a time when almost every other civilized country is implementing a four-day week, Greece has chosen the opposite path.”
Do more with less
Experiments with a four-day workweek have often shown that shorter working hours make workers more rested, more focused, and give them more time to attend to the needs of their personal lives outside of work, resulting in increased productivity.
A study of U.S. manufacturing found that a 10% increase in overtime hours Productivity drops It increased from 2% to 4%.
Another review I checked the output A study was published in a major Indian technology company with over 10,000 skilled workers working from home. As work hours increased (18% more hours worked outside of normal working hours), productivity decreased, dropping by 8-19%. The biggest reason was that more time was spent on communication and coordination and less time was spent on uninterrupted work.
Research shows that workers often benefit from having time away from work to recuperate.
More free time can also make employees more appreciative. Zachary Toth, who runs a small manufacturing company in Toronto, previously told BI that he and his executive colleagues started considering a four-day week after seeing successful pilots in Japan and other countries.
Toth didn’t expect that longer periods away from the factory would encourage workers to show up to work without being asked.
“They knew they had projects that needed to be finished and they were here to make sure they didn’t lose productivity. They wanted to be able to continue working a four-day week,” he said.
Toth, Metex’s owner and president, said productivity has increased “in every way.”
After years of experimenting with a four-day workweek and other initiatives, advertising software company Basis Technologies is moving to a four-and-a-half-day workweek, deciding to make Fridays a half-day in 2024.
Emily Baron, the company’s executive vice president of talent development, previously told BI that the company is looking for ways to give employees more time to relax while still meeting the needs of the business, and half-day work is the best option for now, she said.
“It’s really meant to be a way for people to have a mental break and catch up — to get to that 7:30 a.m. workout class they couldn’t get to,” Baron said.
End of the 5-day week
In Greece, the longer working hours are a response to demographic change, which the country’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has called a “time bomb,” according to The Guardian, which said some half a million Greeks, mostly young and educated, left the country after the debt crisis began more than a decade ago.
The new rules are voluntary, but some critics say they effectively mean the end of the five-day work week.
Aris Kazakos, Professor Emeritus of Labor Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, recently He told Germany’s DW News reports state that employers can ask employees to work a sixth day and employees cannot refuse.
He said the move to a six-day week would “permanently abolish the five-day work week”.