微软日本公司做了一个4天工作周的实验，发现生产率提高了40%

微软日本公司做了一个4天工作周的实验，发现生产率提高了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，微软日本进行了一项名为“2019年夏季工作-生活选择挑战”的实验，他们对所有员工进行了为期4天的工作周测试。约有2300名员工享受了5个周五的无薪假期和年假。当然，实验证明是一个巨大的成功，提高了近40%的生产率和更高的员工满意度(92.1%的员工报告说他们喜欢更短的一周)。“工作时间短，休息好，学到很多东西。有一个能让你感受到生活目标并在工作中产生更大影响的环境是很有必要的。”我希望员工们能够思考和体验如何用少20%的工作时间达到同样的效果。”

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

微软日本宣布了他们为期四天的工作周测试结果

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天工作周在全球范围内已经深深扎根于我们的工作文化中，尽管研究一再证明，5天工作周不如更短的工作周有效。在18世纪末，工作10-16小时被认为是正常的，因为工厂“需要”24/7运转。直到威尔士活动家和提倡缩短工作时间的罗伯特·欧文提出了“八小时劳动，八小时娱乐，八小时休息”的口号。今天，没有人对每天8小时、每周5天的工作睁一只眼闭一只眼——这是新的“正常”。然而，越来越多的公司和科学家正在重新考虑什么是正常的，包括微软日本。正如国际劳工组织在2018年发布的报告所述:“现有的最佳经验证据表明，减少全职工作时间可以为工人、企业和整个社会带来许多积极的结果:较少的职业健康问题和降低医疗成本;更多更好的工作;工作与生活更好地平衡;更满意、更有动力、更有生产力的员工，就会产生更可持续的企业。此外，更短的工作时间甚至可以对经济的“绿化”做出重要贡献，因为我们工作得越多，我们的“碳足迹”就越大;因此，减少我们工作的天数，以及因此减少我们从家到工作地点的通勤时间，必然也会对环境产生积极的影响。”

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

员工的生产率提高了近40%，这可能不足为奇

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.

为了适应每周4天的工作时间，微软日本的许多会议都被缩短、远程进行或干脆取消。为期3天的周末试用不仅使工作效率提高了39.9%，而且员工的休假时间减少了25.4%，用电量减少了23.1%，打印的页数减少了58.7%。这只意味着一件事——长周末不仅对员工和他们的健康更好，而且对环境本身也更好，因为使用的资源更少了。

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