The new PM of Finland, Sanna Marin, 34, has called for a more flexible working schedule that would include a 4-day-workweek and a 6-hour-workday.
She’s the second youngest head of government in the whole world and she claims that this new schedule will give workers the chance to spend more time with families.
The mother of one leads a centre-left coalition with 4 other parties, all of which are led by women and three of them are younger than 35.
Finland has already been at the forefront of more flexible work life for years- they began in 1996 with a law that betters workers’ rights to adjust their hours up to 3 hours earlier or later than what their employer requires.
Why Does New Finland PM Want a more Flexible Working Schedule?
According to Marin, people deserve spending more time with their loved ones, as well as more time for hobbies and other important parts of life like culture.
And, she believes this is the further step for us in the work life. Prior to becoming a PM, Marin was in office as the Minister of Transport.
She advocated for shorter working weeks to better the workers’ productivity and employee rapport.
Currently, in Finland, it’s normal to work 8 hours per day, 5 days per week.
Marin’s proposal was welcomed with enthusiasm by Li Andersson, minister of education and the leader of the Left Alliance.
What’s Like in the Neighboring Countries & Elsewhere?
In Sweden, where the 6-hour-workday was tested in 2015, it was concluded that the workers were happier, more productive, and wealthier.
In November, 2019, Microsoft in Japan decided to better the work-life balance of their employees and introduced a 3-day-weekend for workers.
According to the results, their productivity upped by 39.9 percent.
In a small New Zealand company called Perpetual Guardian, the trial of a 4-day-workweek was first tested and then formally adopted in 2018.
In Ireland, the company ICE Group dropped their working schedule to 4 days and discovered that the habits of their workers changed-staff took fewer breaks and scrolled their social media less.
Not Easy to Implement
Despite shorter working weeks bringing advantages to the well-being of employees, they’re not easy to introduce.
According to the science research foundation in London, The Welcome Trust, they had to drop their plans for a 4-day-workweek last year as it was operationally complex to go through with it because of their staff of 800 people.
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