Are four working days enough? Two thirds think: yes!

The 4-day week is a serious alternative in which there is no fear of any loss of productivity compared to the usual 5-day week for full-time work – at least that’s what almost two thirds of German employees think (62 percent). The job portal Fiverr claims to have found this out in an international survey. It was also about generational differences as well as remote and team work.

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German employees are even more skeptical than their international colleagues as to whether their own workload could be managed in fewer days. 69 percent worldwide are of the opinion that their workload could be managed with one less day. According to Fiverr, German employees only consider themselves productive for an average of 29 hours per week – these hours, Fiverr argues, can easily be spread over four days per week. However, the company admits that the productive hours per day would then also have to increase: Otherwise, “the model would hardly be sustainable in the long term, especially for small and medium-sized companies.”

Generational conflicts

There are clear differences between the generations in this country: While the younger generations of Gen Y and Gen Z – i.e. people born between 1981 and 2012 – tend to assume that they can achieve the same thing in a shorter time (74 percent and 68 percent) , baby boomers are significantly more skeptical about this (47 percent).

At the same time, Fiverr predicts the end of the 9-to-5 working model with office hours from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – but not because the 4-day week requires longer working hours. Rather, most people lack creativity during normal working hours – only 37 percent of those surveyed feel it between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Significantly more popular: the early morning hours between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., when almost half of those surveyed feel particularly productive. Given the demands of Gen Z on work, the company is certain that it is only a matter of time before working hours are adjusted.

Germans prefer to stay alone

Fiverr also provides its own figures on the subject of remote and team work: According to this, completely remote work is the preferred way of working for a quarter of employees – and one in five would prefer to work completely alone. In an international comparison, German employees lead the ranking when it comes to desire for isolation: on average worldwide, only 13 percent always want to work solo.

The market research company Censuswide conducted the survey on behalf of Fiverr. From August 18th to September 1st, the company surveyed 9,129 employees and freelancers in Germany, Great Britain, the USA, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Australia. 1018 of the respondents came from Germany. The survey data is currently not publicly available, but is available to iX.

(jvo)

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