The four-day working week is good for the climate
Economy & innovation — di Valentina Neri
Beyond employee wellbeing, there is another argument in favour of the four-day working week: the reduction of CO2 emissions.
The four-day working week is good for the climate
Beyond employee wellbeing, there is another argument in favour of the four-day working week: the reduction of CO2 emissions.
A four-day working week at the same salary? A number of companies are beginning to move in this direction, between those that tout its benefits in terms of productivity and those that instead focus attention on a better work-life balance. A new British study suggests that this model can also give an important boost to the fight against climate change.
What the British study on the four-day working week says
The report was commissioned from a team of experts by the collective Platform, which promotes a campaign for the shortening of working hours. According to the analysis, introducing the four-day working week in the United Kingdom would lead to a drop in CO2 emissions of 127 million tonnes per year by 2025 (that is, 21.3 per cent compared to current levels). That is the equivalent of wiping out Switzerland's entire carbon footprint or, to use another point of comparison, of taking 27 million vehicles off the road — the entire private car fleet of the United Kingdom.
Similar results would be the product of reduced electricity consumption at companies and fewer commutes, but also of greater time available for family, sport, reading and other activities with a lower climate impact. The issue becomes particularly decisive now that the United Kingdom has set itself the goal of cutting emissions by at least 68 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, before hitting the target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Who is already experimenting with the shorter working week
On the other side of the world, in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has already shown a degree of openness towards the idea of the four-day working week. The multinational Unilever seized the opportunity by launching a year-long trial in December 2020. After this pilot experiment, there will be more grounds on which to weigh a possible extension to its 155,000 employees worldwide.
A similar project launched by Microsoft in Japan before the pandemic ended with a 40 per cent increase in productivity, which went hand in hand with a 23 per cent cut in electricity consumption and a 59 per cent reduction in paper document printing. In recent months the Spanish government also floated the idea. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, included it in the programme on which she stood at the 6 May elections, which returned her for a second term.