More time for family – Three-quarters of Viennese want a 30-hour working week

The demand for a 30-hour week is not new, but a recent investigation by the Vienna Workers’ Chamber has brought it back to the forefront. “The work is becoming more and more intensive, the workload is increasing in all sectors. We urgently need a new, healthy full-time employee,” says Renate Anderl, chairman of the Chamber of Labor. The legal definition of full-time dates back to 1975. Productivity per hour worked has since doubled thanks to technical progress.

AK Wien wanted to know how employees themselves view it and conducted an online survey about working hours at the end of 2022. 4700 people participated and the vast majority wanted shorter working hours. When it comes to how employees would use the new time, recreation and more family time top the list at nearly 60 percent. Only three percent say they want to work for the same amount of time as before.

Many do not work until retirement
“Since the desire for a reduction in working hours is more or less the same in all sectors, a legal reduction in working hours is the only logical step,” said the chairman. According to the working atmosphere index of the Chamber of Labor in Upper Austria, one in three employees cannot imagine staying in their current job until retirement age.

But how can this be reconciled with the current shortage of skilled labour? “The new full-time working hours of 30 hours would be generally accepted: three-quarters of Viennese would then work 30 hours or slightly less,” says Sybille Pirklbauer, head of the social policy working group. This would reduce absenteeism and unlock the potential of jobseekers and part-time workers seeking to extend their working hours. “According to the study, half of those surveyed who previously worked less than 25 hours would then be willing to work full-time,” says Pirklbauer.