Germany is piloting a 4-day work week program for the first time

Germany is now set to join the likes of the U.S., Britain and Portugal in piloting a shorter work week. 

The program, which is set to start on Feb. 1, will last six months—the same as its peers’ experiments—and will include hundreds of employees across 45 participating companies, Dale Whelehan, CEO at Auckland-based 4 Day Week Global, the non-profit leading the pilot told Fortune. 

The tricky timing

The program follows a 100:80:100 principle, wherein participating companies stick to 100% pay in 80% of the time while, in theory, achieving 100% output.

“This is essentially a human resource transformation project and it is a productivity intervention. So organizations are really struggling to grapple with improving their productivity or output of their businesses’ performance—that’s because they’re fundamentally missing the foundation of a business which is run by its people” Whelehan said.

The four-day work week, with its reputation of yielding promising results in past trials, will be rolled out at a tricky time for the German labor market, which faces a slew of pressures including farmers’ protests, a shortage in skilled workers and sluggish growth.

In addition, recessionary fears and soft global demand is expected to cause a hiring freeze in the country through 2024. Groups of doctors and metal workers also went on strike last year—both over wages and working hours (the metal workers unions IG Metall demanded a 32-hour work week, which they secured in a deal last month). 

The debate surrounding working hours in Germany is a contentious one—an overwhelming 73% of Germans are in favor of cutting the work week short…