Unilever New Zealand to trial four-day work week
02 December, 2020
Unilever New Zealand said on Tuesday it would trial a four-day function week for staff in the country, with no cut to their pay, after the government this season flagged the idea as part of a drive to kickstart the economy.
The multinational consumer titan said all 81 employees would be eligible to take part in the year-longer experiment slated to begin this month and would consider adopting it globally.
"Our goal is certainly to measure performance in output, not time. We believe the good old ways of working happen to be outdated no longer fit for goal," Unilever New Zealand managing director Nick Bangs stated.
Primary Minister Jacinda Ardern in-may raised the chance of moving the country to a four-day time week to greatly help kickstart New Zealand's post-lockdown economy.
Ardern said she wished to encourage "nimble" and imaginative ideas for recovery after a strict seven-week lockdown that helped New Zealand contain the coronavirus but stalled the economy.
Bangs said momentum for a shorter work week was first growing after the pandemic's upheaval of office culture.
"This is a thrilling moment for we and a validation of the catalytic role COVID-19 has played in shaking up normal working methods," he said.
The company said it hopes to improve staff productivity and wellbeing by giving more versatility and would shift to new project-management software to help ease the transition.
Benefits from the trial can come to be measured by the University of Technology Sydney, with the prospect of the scheme to be rolled out across Unilever businesses around the world if it proves successful.
"We anticipate sharing the lessons from this trial with additional Kiwi businesses, in the hopes of influencing others to think about their own means of working," Bangs added.
The New Zealand trial is scheduled to perform until December next year.
Source: japantoday.com
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