Spain has launched a pilot project to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial sector cut workers’ working weeks by at least half a day without affecting wages in an effort to boost productivity.

Companies applying for aid must develop ways to improve productivity to counter excess wage costs, Spain’s Industry Ministry said in a press release published on Friday, in which it presents a program worth 10 million euros, Agerpres reports.

These productivity improvements must be implemented within a year, and companies must maintain the program for at least two years.

The debate about the so-called “Scandinavian model”, which claims that productivity will increase if the working day is shortened, is not new, but has been revived during the Covid-19 crisis among companies, the public sector and politicians.

In the first year of the project, the Spanish government will partially fund the wage costs of companies that reduce working hours, and will also help finance training programs and the cost of measures to improve productivity.

Only employees with a permanent full-time employment contract will be able to participate in this program, and women must be represented according to their share of the company’s workforce.

At least 30% of the workforce must reduce their working hours if the company has up to 20 employees, while in the case of companies with 21 to 249 employees, at least 25% of them must be included in such a plan.

Spanish telecoms group Telefonica has already offered its staff the option to work four days a week, extending a pilot program that initially covered around 150 staff, but they must accept a 12% pay cut in return.

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