After nearly two years of teleworking, Spanish companies are beginning to see a link between pay and productivity rather than hours worked or location. The conversation has shifted toward concepts like in-person collaboration and the potential obsolescence of the five day week.
Some firms are experimenting with a flexible office model that gives employees more control over their time. It was a long journey to accept that Saturdays do not have to be workdays and that Fridays can take precedence, researchers observed in El Periódico de España.
The proposed framework is straightforward: four days a week, eight hours each day, with the same salary. Yet the approach varies across companies. Small and medium enterprises tend to innovate more easily due to their size and flexibility.
There are success stories such as the marketing agency Good Rebels and the software firm DELSOL Software. Other examples like Bravent now operate with a mixed and shorter weekly schedule focused on 36 hours. Some larger firms like Telefónica have offered a four week work model with a salary that reflects a reduced workload, though at a cost.
The Telefónica case, one of the largest Spanish employers testing new work formats, highlights the importance of listening to workers.
According to UGT, nearly 200 teleoperator workers rejected a five and a half hour weekly reduction in pay for four hours less. Still, there is a clear demand for greater flexibility, with many employees seeking remote work for a substantial portion of their day. In May, 81 percent of the workforce, over 13,000 people, asked for 40 percent of their working day to be remote.
One executive explains that paying workers less would undermine the whole idea. The key is to keep salaries intact while offering flexible hours. It is possible to name the arrangement as reduced hours, a concept that already exists, without mislabeling it as a four day model. Cutting pay would erode trust, says Fernando Polo, CEO of Good Rebels.
Since adopting a four day week last year, Good Rebels has seen a seven percent rise in productivity and an eighteen percent increase in sales. Management surveys indicate work quality remained strong, and customer service did not suffer.
If workers can perform just as well in less time, could they be asked to work longer hours on other days? This question is common in Spain. The answer, Polo says, is that trust and autonomy allow employees to balance personal life while maintaining output.
Across the border, the United Kingdom has launched a large pilot to test four day work weeks. About 3,300 workers across seventy companies will reduce their workday to 80 percent for six months while keeping full pay.
Meanwhile Iceland wrapped up a long-running experiment in 2019. Two thousand five hundred employees participated, and the studies showed no drop in productivity, with notable gains in well being.
Flexibility attracts talent
Companies consulted by El Periódico de España generally embraced the four day model, with workers at the center of the decision. The shift is not only about company benefits.
At Good Rebels, 93 percent of the staff see higher productivity, better time management, and more energy during the day. Software DELSOL reports absenteeism down by 28 percent and a higher employee happiness score of 8.9 out of 10.
Ana Arroyo, Human Resources Director at DELSOL, emphasizes the need to value people. She notes high turnover in certain roles and stresses that workers should be prized for not living to work but using their talents to contribute meaningfully.
According to 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit think tank, seventy eight percent of employees experience greater happiness and lower stress, while sixty three percent of companies report easier talent attraction and retention because of the model.
ManpowerGroup researchers in Spain found that ninety percent of professionals expect some remote work after the pandemic. Pablo Gómez from Adecco Group remarks that flexible days are a significant factor when choosing a new job.
Lía Radovic, head of Marketing and Business Development at Bravent, says every interviewee lights up when the four day idea is mentioned, underscoring its impact on talent attraction.
Rethinking the model
At Good Rebels the team usually works Monday to Thursday with Friday off shared among groups, preserving activity until the end of the week. After a five week cycle, employees gain a paid Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Both firms maintain physical offices, yet remote work remains an option for staff who need it.
Bravent, an official Microsoft partner and a technology consultancy, reached ten million euros in annual turnover after the pandemic boosted demand. Staff enjoy the freedom to choose, but the company currently concentrates around thirty six hours per week spread over four nine hour days.
Radovic notes the big tradeoff: happier employees with more flexibility versus higher billing hours. The company chose happiness and flexibility while keeping salaries intact. A salary cut is not a necessary price for a shorter workweek, and calling it something it is not would be a mistake.