While the widely hyped model is being phased out again after five months at KTM’s motorcycle assembly plant in Mattighofen (Upper Austria) at the end of February, it is now on the test bench at the next company in production. A test run has been underway at Fronius in Sattledt since mid-January.
How can the four-day work week work in a production facility where the systems don’t have to be down from Sunday night to Friday night? KTM was already addressing this question, where in October the widespread working model was introduced into motorcycle assembly – on a voluntary basis and to accommodate peaks in capacity.
At the end of February, the model was no longer used by the two-wheeler manufacturer in Mattighofen and did not receive the hoped-for approval. However, this does not prevent other industrial companies from conducting their own tests.
In mid-January, Fronius started a pilot project in a solar energy production area in Sattledt – with 30 employees, limited to 12 weeks. “We want to learn and will talk a lot with the employees,” reveals head of human resources Andreas Edlinger. Thanks to flexible working hours, the possibility of working a full day in the white-collar sector has long existed.
Whether the four-day working week in shift production will remain only on a trial basis or whether it will increase – that all depends on the coming weeks. In the previous year, the company had onboarded more than 1,000 new employees. For this year, the aim is to recruit another 1300 employees, of which 800 in Austria.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
