CE Glass has introduced a four-day working week - here are the first month's experiences!

At the beginning of January, our glass company with its roots in Szeged started a unique experiment in Hungary: our entire workforce switched to a four-day working week at the same time!

The four-day working week has been introduced on an experimental basis by only a few companies in Hungary so far, but it is unique in the country that the entire workforce of a manufacturing group employing several hundred people has switched to four-day working at the same time.

The introduction of the new working hours was preceded by several months of preparatory work, during which we consulted our colleagues about the planned changes - including the order of shifts, which was decided on the basis of their votes.

In the survey, nearly 88% of colleagues who responded supported the introduction of a four-day working week.

And when asked whether they thought that the introduction of a four-day working week would help or hinder their personal and family life, 90% of colleagues said they would be fully or more supportive of the new working arrangements.

In the office area, colleagues work 36 hours a week, and in the production and loading area, they work 40 hours a week. With the introduction of the four-day working week, salaries are usually reduced or stagnate in most companies, but at CE Glass the introduction of the four-day working week has been accompanied by a pay rise.

The four-day working week could therefore be introduced without reducing production capacity.

The first month of the experiment was about the transition to the new working hours and fine-tuning the system. The changeover went smoothly in the office, technical, production and transport areas.

Feedback so far shows that the experiment has lived up to expectations: staff have quickly grown accustomed to and fond of the four-day working week, with many of them using the Fridays off to organise their business, travel, family activities or simply to relax over the long weekends.

"From the first management decision to the implementation, the preparation of the four-day working week was a long and complex process, where we had to adapt our entire company process system to the four-day-a-week operation, but also take into account the interests of employees and partners, labour law issues and production operations. There was also the question of whether we would be able to provide the same level of service to our partners over four days, and the first month so far shows that so far we have." - said Péter Hódi, project manager for the introduction of the four-day working week.

"We are talking about a measure that is for the workers, that increases their well-being, a benefit that we want everyone to enjoy and to be able to spend the time off in a useful way. In the survey prior to its introduction, we had very high support from our employees - over 88%. However, as the weeks since the launch go by, we feel that those who may have been a little more sceptical are also becoming more positive about the new working hours." - added Réka Fülöp-Szabó, HR Manager at CE Glass.

Our experiment with the four-day working week is planned to run until the end of December 2023, so we can simulate a full year of operation, taking into account the specificities of the construction industry. The system will be reviewed every month and a decision on whether to keep the working schedule will be taken at the end of the year.