Various tests carried out around the world have revealed that reduce the work week of five days and 40 hours to four dayscontributes to improving not only the well-being of workers, but also their productivity and commitment to their work.
However, there is something about the four-day work week that, currently, is of much more interest to leaders: the savings in fuel consumption that implies that workers do not take the car to go to work. For this reason, the president of the Philippines has decreed that officials in several offices of the Philippine executive would go to work only four days a week to save energy for the crude price increase due to the war situation in Iran.
The four-day work week as an economic measure. This is not the first time that labor flexibility has been used as an economic tool. In fact, in Spain it was asked to prioritize teleworking after the DANA of Valencia or to avoid risks when traveling due to meteorological threats.
However, what is unusual is that the four-day work week is used to prevent officials from traveling to their workplaces and thus save fuel in the face of an imminent supply crisis in the archipelago. As stated in the Memorandum Circular number 114A published by the Philippine government, the average will affect all officials starting March 9.
The four-day week for efficiency. In his statement, President Marcos highlighted one exception, “We are temporarily adopting a four-day work week in certain executive branch offices. This does not apply to those providing emergency or essential services, including police, firefighters and other frontline services,” leaving emergency personnel out of the workweek cut.
Along with this, the president ordered all public organizations to reduce their electricity and fuel consumption by between 10 and 20%, also prohibiting non-essential travel, study visits and all face-to-face meetings that can be held electronically. Each organization must also appoint a person responsible for energy efficiency and submit monthly consumption reports.
A country hostage to foreign oil. Although the measure may seem somewhat exaggerated after only a week of conflict, the Philippines does not produce its own oil and depends on fossil fuel plants to generate much of its electricity. That makes the minimum swing in prices of the crude oil is transferred immediately to homes and businesses.
In his message, Marcos explained that the conflict in the Middle East has affected the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and that, when that route fails, prices rise around the world. The president warned of the concrete consequences if the strait were to close, fuel prices would skyrocket in the market. Something that, in fact, it’s already happening in much of the planet.
The private sector, on guard. At the moment, the reduction in working hours only applies to the public sector, but the debate on the convenience of applying it to the private sector is already being debated among political groups. Senator Francis Escudero encouraged companies private companies to study staggered shifts or flexible working, arguing that reducing traffic in large cities would have a significant economic impact.
According to senator’s details According to a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), traffic jams in Metro Manila cost the country approximately 3.5 billion pesos a day (about 51 million euros).
However, businessmen do not have the same opinion. “For manufacturing, we have been operating with limited resources, and further reducing work days could put our commitments at risk,” assured to The Inquirer Ferdinand Ferrer, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
A story that repeats itself. Although the four-day work week is a concept that sounds novel, it is actually not something new for the Philippines. Already in 1990, during the Gulf War, the Department of Labor and Employment implemented the week of four days with the same objective: to cushion the economic impact of a sharp rise in crude oil. History repeats itself under very similar conditions.
The difference with the European debate on the four-day week could not be greater. There are no employee well-being studies or analysis of productivity for companies. The Philippine government’s vision is much more pragmatic: reduce its energy bill as quickly as possible.
Image | Unsplash (Haberdoedas, phyo min)
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