Microsoft Japan Tested A Four-Day Work Week. Productivity Jumped By 40%

US company Microsoft has taken a new initiative by giving its employees three days a week off in Japan. In Japan, where employees were overburdened, this step has given new vitality to their personal life. There, the company has also achieved cost reduction by increasing sales by giving employees a holiday for three days a week. Microsoft Japan has started this as an experiment and the results were outstanding.

Results of this experiment

The results of these steps of the company were positive. Due to this, sales per employee increased by about 40 percent in August compared to the same month of the previous year. There was a reduction in electricity consumption by a quarter and paper usage by half. According to Microsoft Japan, this use suggests that employees prefer different modes of work. Also the widespread use of this model can increase efficiency.

This experiment took place in August when Microsoft in Japan gave leave to its employees three days a week, that is, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Government of Japan is promoting flexible working methods for employees struggling with work pressure. This special leave was given to all 2,300 full-time employees. Also, the company made the maximum time limit of 30 minutes of meetings and encouraged ‘online chat’ rather than face-to-face interaction. According to Microsoft Japan, the number of participants in the meetings was fixed at five and employees were encouraged to talk online instead of e-mail.

Microsoft has proved with this formula that even large companies can benefit greatly from this. A New Zealand company adopted this plan for two months and described it as effective. Microsoft is about to roll out the four-day week plan once again. Also, the company has appealed to other companies to adopt this plan. Some experts believe that this will cause a lot of damage to companies where work is done for seven days. At the same time, they will have to recruit more for this.