Why Employers Want, But Can't Reduce Working Days For Their Employees
Of course, we all want to work less and get more money – it is in the nature of man. Ideas about switching to a four-day work week with the same salary in Russia began to be expressed a long time ago, even during the coronavirus pandemic. But they remained on paper, it was believed that employers were opposed. After all, what do they need from an employee? Products. Profit. But here's the paradox: according to the latest opinion poll, 81% of Russian employers vote… for four days.
According to the results of a survey conducted by one of the major employment companies, employers are a mountain over a four-day period: four out of five said they «approved» this idea.
It is appropriate to recall here that quite recently a certain public business organization, taking into account the problems in the economy, on the contrary, called on the authorities to introduce a six-day period in the country. (By the way, 82% of Russians spoke out against it — this is already according to another opinion poll).
Russian employers, although they advocate on paper by a majority of votes in favor of reducing the length of the working week, are actually not ready for the transition to new schedule in reality. Only 4% of respondents said they are capable of such a step within the next three years.
According to experts, the «reduced» organization of production has its pros and cons. Among the benefits, they cite «reduced employee burnout.» What this actually means is not entirely clear. In any case, there are no statistics of leading workers who “burnt out” at work.
And among the shortcomings of the shortened working week, the fact of the inevitable reduction in wages for employees is noted. Everything is clear here.
Although we don’t officially have a four-day period, the Russians are well aware of how it can turn out in terms of their income. Indeed, on a part-time, or part-time working week (why not four days?), Most of our fellow citizens were sitting for the entire period of the coronavirus pandemic. And as soon as they tightened their belts, they did not have enough wages to live on.
Unlike their employers, the Russians, remembering those events, would most likely oppose any experiments in the field of labor legislation. As bitter experience shows, any good intention in this area leads in practice to a drop in income.
Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Alexander Safonov believes that the reduction of working hours does not proportionally lead to a decrease in the output of products or services.
— Employers proceed from the fact that such a measure will increase productivity, — he says. – However, certain economic and innovative conditions are necessary for the implementation of this project. Entrepreneurs need to invest in the re-equipment of production, introduce advanced technologies, and invest in optimizing production processes. In order to change the nature of labor and the tools of production — say, not a screwdriver in an assembly plant, but, relatively speaking, a screwdriver. This is not a story of the near future.
The topic of the four-day meeting in Russia is a long-standing one, it was first raised by Dmitry Medvedev back in 2021 in the wake of the pandemic. True, he set two strict conditions for employers: that both wages remain at the same level and labor productivity does not fall.
In general, so that both the sheep are safe and the wolves are fed. Only how to ensure such harmony, no one knew then, and no one knows now.
— During the day, a person works unevenly, — says trade unionist, former Deputy Minister of Labor of the Russian Federation Pavel Kudyukin. — It is believed that after the first four hours, his attention sharply decreases, and this is a very important factor — whether on the conveyor, or just behind the locksmith's workbench.
But talking about a four-day week is nothing if we do not indicate the length of the working week. If the current 40 hours are distributed over four days, if they make a shift of 10 hours, it will be just a tragedy. And such a measure certainly will not raise labor productivity. Although we know from history that there were times when the working day left 18 hours. But this is clearly a sad story from long forgotten times.
In our country, the length of the working day and rest time are the most violated labor law norms in practice. And with the four-day work, if it suddenly appears, there are fears that these norms will be even more massively violated.
— In France, a 35-hour work week has long been established, it enshrined in law. The country's economy did not suffer, salaries did not decrease either. Actually, the unions would not agree to reduce the income of wage workers.
— If the reduction in working hours leads to an increase in labor productivity, then wages, in theory, should not decrease. She can grow up. Another question is whether this same increase in productivity will occur?