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Auto-Werkstatt offers a 4-day week - less work, same wage

2023-02-09T17:27:00.110Z


The shortage of skilled workers affects almost all sectors. A Cologne car dealership chain is now pinning its hopes on a new concept.


The shortage of skilled workers affects almost all sectors.

A Cologne car dealership chain is now pinning its hopes on a new concept.

Cologne – It doesn't matter whether it's trades, gastronomy or nursing: the lack of skilled workers is causing massive headaches for many companies - also in NRW.

More and more people are retiring and junior staff are rare.

The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) reports that 85 percent of companies fear negative effects from the lack of suitable employees.

A Cologne car dealership chain is now trying to avert the personnel crisis and is offering a 4-day week as an incentive - with the same wages, reports 24RHEIN.

4-day week: Less working hours for the same wages at a Cologne-based company

Dionysius Steingass is the managing director of "La Linea".

The car dealer sells and services cars at a total of nine locations in the Rhineland - including in Cologne, Bonn and Euskirchen.

"The 4-day week is an important measure for us to improve the work-life balance of our employees and to make our jobs more attractive," says Dionysius Steingass.

Since February, what is still hotly debated in many other companies has been a reality for the “La Linea” workshop employees.

Those who work at the Cologne car dealership now have a choice:

► Either work four days a week with the same salary (33 hours/week).

► Or stay with the old working time model and receive a correspondingly higher salary

"La Linea" boss Steingass is convinced that a reduction in working hours will lead to more motivation and productivity within the workforce.

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"La Linea" managing director Dionysius Steingass offers his employees a 4-day week with full wages.

© LanLinea

Expert: "The shortage of skilled workers has definitely reached the automotive industry"

Many companies across the industry are trying to make the workplace more attractive, as Claudia Weiler, Managing Director of the Cologne Motor Vehicle Guild, explains to 24RHEIN: “Flexible working hours are definitely an issue.

But there are also many other incentives that are currently taking effect.” Among other things, measures to improve the working atmosphere – such as team events – are being carried out to compensate for the lack of suitable personnel, says Weiler.

Although the industry is often still a bit spoiled in terms of personnel compared to other sectors, "the shortage of skilled workers has definitely reached us".

What are incentives?

The word incentives comes from the late Latin incentivus, which means something like stimulating or stimulating.

According to the definition, an incentive is an "offered gratification" that is intended to encourage an increase in performance, for example in the form of money or benefits in kind.

4-day week already tested in many EU countries - expert: "overwhelming success"

The idea of ​​reduced working hours as an incentive is not entirely new.

A few years ago, for example, the entrepreneur Lasse Rheingans made headlines because he introduced the 25-hour week with full wages in his agency in Bielefeld.

But: So far, such models were more of a topic for agencies with classic office jobs.

This has so far been unusual for handicraft businesses.

Other countries in Europe are already further along: in some countries the model is already being used across the board, for example in Iceland or Belgium.

Almost 90 percent of all employees in Iceland, for example, only work four days a week.

A test there was an "overwhelming success," according to political researcher Will Stronge.

Another large-scale study recently found that a 4-day week leads to more productivity and increases the company's sales.

Labor market expert: 4-day week can also have negative consequences

So what speaks against such a model in Germany?

"There is a lot of flexibility required, both from employees and from employers," explains labor market expert Alexander Spermann to

ZDF

.

After all, a 4-day week also means that 100 percent of a company's turnover has to be achieved within just 80 percent of the working time.

More, rather than less, stress could result for employees.

The work organization must therefore be set up in such a way that the stress does not increase, for example through flexible work locations, says Spermann - which is difficult to achieve in a workshop.

You also have to get away from the "pure four-day view" and instead think about a distribution of the 16 working days in the month - or even introduce a season or lifetime view, according to the expert.

(mg) Fair and independent information about what is happening in NRW and Germany - subscribe to our free 24RHEIN newsletter here.

Rubric list image: © LanLinea

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-02-09

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