Magyar Telekom has concluded its pilot program to test a 4-day working week, coming to a decision to reinstate the 5-day working week. The program began in the summer of 2022 and was a unique experiment on the Hungarian labor market, whereby the company studied the feasibility of a 4-day work schedule in a large company environment with the participation of 300 colleagues.
After much study and consideration, the company decided to close the project and continue to look for a solution that can ensure the improvement of work-life balance.
The 300 colleagues involved in the experiment worked in areas dealing with customer service, technical fault repair, technology sales support, and SAP systems. Over the course of a year and a half, the company's experts conducted more than 100 questionnaire surveys and nearly 50 in-depth interviews with colleagues, gathering data about the process.
After the initial positive feedback, the surveys revealed that during the long-term test period, not all areas and colleagues were able to perform their tasks with the same efficiency. While some of the colleagues solved the tasks without any obstacles during the more intensive 4 days, it became clear that the majority of them could not work efficiently in this model due to the nature of their work or their life situation. In addition, the long-term coordination of teams with mixed work schedules also posed challenges.
Tibor Rékasi, CEO, Magyar Telekom
We are constantly looking for new directions, how we can find better and more efficient solutions, whether it is about serving our customers or organizing our work processes. We attempted the latter by testing the 4-day work week, which I think shows the extraordinary openness of our organization. We gathered a lot of valuable feedback and new knowledge during the test period, which we will close after a year and a half. In light of the results, we shall continue to work according to the traditional work schedule, but going forward we look for new solutions that support work-life balance and the satisfaction of colleagues.
