Greek workers seek 4-day work for work-life balance

Greek workers are opposed to the six-day work, while at the same time they turn to the four-day work, hoping to balance professional and personal life and to avoid burnout, according to an online survey conducted by kariera.gr.

The four-day work is a regime that many Greeks would like to see come to fruition, so that they can achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives and not be led to burnout.

kariera.gr carried out a relevant survey on the subject of four-day work with 48% of the respondents answering that they prefer fewer working days in contrast to 28% who consider the five-day work regime preferable as is customary in the Greek market.

From July 1, the law on six-day work under conditions is expected to be activated.

In a question asked in the survey, the vast majority of respondents, i.e. 91%, emphasized that the six-day work is a negative development.

The 4-day work as a solution to work burnout and work-life balance

The most effective way to combat employee burnout seems to be the four-day working regime according to 51% of respondents, while a significant percentage (38%) said that better workload management by employers themselves would also help.

However, although the 4-day work may also mean the concentration of the workload in fewer days, it is something that seems to be preferred by most respondents (61%) in relation to the five-day work regime (7%), while 28% of of respondents responded that they are wary of the four working days as there may be a greater workload.

When asked if the 4-day work would improve their work-life balance and productivity, the vast majority answered that they would see an improvement in both (84%), while only 10% said that only the work-life balance would improve.

When respondents were asked to choose between working four days at the same salary or working five days with a raise, opinions appeared to be divided with 55% preferring the former option while 45% preferred the latter.

It is worth noting that the Greeks believe in a very large percentage (79%) that the four-day work would have other advantages, such as the attraction of talent, which will be a competitive advantage for the companies that will institute the 4-day work.

Flexibility on Fridays during the summer months

For Friday as the last working day of the week, the question was raised about flexibility in hours during the summer months.

Most respondents (66%) would like to have flexible hours on Fridays, while a significant percentage of 29% felt that this flexibility should be offered depending on the type of work.