微軟日本公司做了一個4天工作周的實驗，發(fā)現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)率提高了40%

微軟日本公司做了一個4天工作周的實驗，發(fā)現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)率提高了40%

This August, Microsoft Japan took on an experiment, called the “Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019” in which they trialed the 4-day work week for their entire workforce. Around 2300 employees were given five Fridays off with no reduction in salary and no days taken off of their annual leave. Naturally, the experiment proved to be a huge success with the increased productivity of almost 40 percent and greater employee satisfaction (92.1 percent of employees reported that they liked the shorter week). “Work a short time, rest well and learn a lot. It’s necessary to have an environment that allows you to feel your purpose in life and make a greater impact at work. I want employees to think about and experience how they can achieve the same results with 20 percent less working time,” said Microsoft Japan president and CEO Takuya Hirano.

今年8月，微軟日本進行了一項名為“2019年夏季工作-生活選擇挑戰(zhàn)”的實驗，他們對所有員工進行了為期4天的工作周測試。約有2300名員工享受了5個周五的無薪假期和年假。當然，實驗證明是一個巨大的成功，提高了近40%的生產(chǎn)率和更高的員工滿意度(92.1%的員工報告說他們喜歡更短的一周)。“工作時間短，休息好，學到很多東西。有一個能讓你感受到生活目標并在工作中產(chǎn)生更大影響的環(huán)境是很有必要的。”我希望員工們能夠思考和體驗如何用少20%的工作時間達到同樣的效果。”

Microsoft Japan has announced the results of their 4-day work week trial

微軟日本宣布了他們?yōu)槠谒奶斓墓ぷ髦軠y試結(jié)果

Image credits: Coolcaesar

The 5-day workweek is deeply entrenched into our work culture globally, although studies keep proving over and over again that they’re not as efficient as shorter workweeks. In the late 18th century, working 10-16 hours was considered normal, as factories “needed” to be run 24/7. It was only until Welsh activist and advocate for shorter workdays Robert Owen came up with the slogan “Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.” Today, no one bats an eye for the 8-hours a day, 5 days a week job – it is the new “normal.” However, more and more companies and scientists are reconsidering what is normal, including Microsoft Japan. As the International Labour Organization back in 2018 reported: “The best available empirical evidence shows that reducing full-time working hours can lead to numerous positive outcomes for workers, enterprises, and society as a whole: fewer occupational health problems and reduced health care costs; more and better jobs; better work-life balance; and more satisfied, motivated, productive employees resulting in more sustainable enterprises. In addition, shorter working hours can even make an important contribution to the “greening” of economies because the more we work, the greater our “carbon footprint”; so, cutting back on the number of days that we work – and therefore the number of times that we have to commute from our homes to our workplaces – is bound to have a positive impact on the environment as well.”

5天工作周在全球范圍內(nèi)已經(jīng)深深扎根于我們的工作文化中，盡管研究一再證明，5天工作周不如更短的工作周有效。在18世紀末，工作10-16小時被認為是正常的，因為工廠“需要”24/7運轉(zhuǎn)。直到威爾士活動家和提倡縮短工作時間的羅伯特·歐文提出了“八小時勞動，八小時娛樂，八小時休息”的口號。今天，沒有人對每天8小時、每周5天的工作睜一只眼閉一只眼——這是新的“正常”。然而，越來越多的公司和科學家正在重新考慮什么是正常的，包括微軟日本。正如國際勞工組織在2018年發(fā)布的報告所述:“現(xiàn)有的最佳經(jīng)驗證據(jù)表明，減少全職工作時間可以為工人、企業(yè)和整個社會帶來許多積極的結(jié)果:較少的職業(yè)健康問題和降低醫(yī)療成本;更多更好的工作;工作與生活更好地平衡;更滿意、更有動力、更有生產(chǎn)力的員工，就會產(chǎn)生更可持續(xù)的企業(yè)。此外，更短的工作時間甚至可以對經(jīng)濟的“綠化”做出重要貢獻，因為我們工作得越多，我們的“碳足跡”就越大;因此，減少我們工作的天數(shù)，以及因此減少我們從家到工作地點的通勤時間，必然也會對環(huán)境產(chǎn)生積極的影響。”

It may come as no surprise that the productivity of employees increased almost by 40 percent

員工的生產(chǎn)率提高了近40%，這可能不足為奇

Image credits: Manidis Roberts

To fit into the 4-day workweek, many meetings in Microsoft Japan were shortened, conducted remotely or cut altogether. Not only did the 3-day weekend trial result in a 39.9 percent increase in productivity, but employees took 25.4 percent less time off, electricity use was cut down by 23.1 percent and 58.7 percent fewer pages were printed. This means only one thing – not only the long weekends are better for employees and their wellbeing, but it’s also better for the environment itself, as fewer resources are being used.

為了適應每周4天的工作時間，微軟日本的許多會議都被縮短、遠程進行或干脆取消。為期3天的周末試用不僅使工作效率提高了39.9%，而且員工的休假時間減少了25.4%，用電量減少了23.1%，打印的頁數(shù)減少了58.7%。這只意味著一件事——長周末不僅對員工和他們的健康更好，而且對環(huán)境本身也更好，因為使用的資源更少了。

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