ROME – Work to live and not vice versa. But then one could arrive at very destabilizing mottos for the current production system such as "work less, work all". Forget it for now, even if the experiment made by Microsoft's Japanese office on its 2300 employees brings with it, for those who know how to appreciate it, the taste of a truly sustainable future. What happened: for the entire month of August, the working week was 4 days and the productivity shot up to 39.9 percent compared to August 2018. Surprise? Not even that much, even if the declared objective of the "Work-Life Choice Challenge" project was to promote a healthier balance between work and private life. The cases of "kuroshi", as in Japanese death is called for too much work, are not things of the past and are frequent to the point that companies in specific cases provide compensation to the victim's family.But the common feeling that sees Japanese workers tireless as opposed to their Western counterparts does not seem to stand up to numbers. Would you ever think that the Japanese work less than the Italians? Yes, according to OECD data (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) the Japanese in 2018 worked on average 1680 hours, compared to 1723 for Italians. But the different outcome of the comparison with the Germans (1363 hours), the French (1520) and the British (1538) leads us to not take the numbers by night. The variables are many, and among these those that the statistics are not always able to intercept. Including the fact that the Japanese do many hours of overtime, not always counted. Very probably what makes the difference is the approach to work. The Japanese generally have a sense of belonging to a company that is superior to many other colleagues in the world, and the performance at work benefits from it in terms of quality. So: constant application to work, few distractions, few bar breaks, no shopping trips. In short, in those parts the "crafty tags" are a rarity and all these factors – on balance – could weigh heavily in comparison.
Whatever it is, the motivation of companies (and Microsoft should be no exception) is basically to increase productivity. However, it is not the first experiment that produces results in this direction. To stay in Japan, the Uniqlo clothing chain has already tried to reduce the work week to 4 days (but in this case by increasing the hours). It went well. Despite particularly intense and stressful days, the experiment was approved by workers and raised productivity. In short, the formula is clear: relax more, have fun, because in this way you will produce more and better.Moreover, even a project carried out by Microsoft Japan plans to finance family holidays for each employee. Yes, because "he works for a short period of time, he rests well and learns a lot", wrote the CEO of Microsoft Japan, Takuya Hirano, on the company website. Adding: "I want employees to think and experience how it is possible to achieve the same results with 20% less working time".
Whatever it is, the motivation of companies (and Microsoft should be no exception) is basically to increase productivity. However, it is not the first experiment that produces results in this direction. To stay in Japan, the Uniqlo clothing chain has already tried to reduce the work week to 4 days (but in this case by increasing the hours). It went well. Despite particularly intense and stressful days, the experiment was approved by workers and raised productivity. In short, the formula is clear: relax more, have fun, because in this way you will produce more and better.Moreover, even a project carried out by Microsoft Japan plans to finance family holidays for each employee. Yes, because "he works for a short period of time, he rests well and learns a lot", wrote the CEO of Microsoft Japan, Takuya Hirano, on the company website. Adding: "I want employees to think and experience how it is possible to achieve the same results with 20% less working time".
The experiment had noticeable results not only in terms of employee productivity and well-being. There is more: the duration of the meetings has fallen to just under half an hour in the face of an increase in conference calls (video call meetings), and this is definitely good. Absences, during the 4-day week, decreased by 25% and electricity consumption in the office fell by 23.1%. Yet. 58.7% less paper was printed and 92.1% of workers said they liked the short week. Hurray.
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https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2019/11/05/news/microsoft_sperimenta_la_settimana_lavorativa_di_4_giorni_e_la_produttivita_schizza_in_alto-240290183/
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