Porsche to Cut Down Working Hours

Tia Oja

Correspondent (Europe)

 

BERLIN — Porsche’s factory has recently been so efficient that it will cut down working time of its factory workers’ day by one hour. Regardless of the change in the length of the work day, the salary of the employees of the German car manufacturer will remain the same.

The German car magazine Automobilwoche reported on its website of a welcomed ‘problem’ Porsche’s factory is facing. Apparently the factory is producing sports cars in such a fast pace that the company has decided to shorten the work days of 3, 500 employees. The car assembling workers’ 35-hour weeks at the factory will change into 34-hour per week.

The representative of Porsche’s employees, Uwe Hück, tells Automobilwoche that increased efficiency at the factory has also increased the employees’ stress levels. According to Hück, shortening the working hours has decreased the stress of the workers at the Stuttgart Zuffenhausen factory. Porsche is also planning to shorten the working hours at its Eastern Germany factory in Leipzig.

Volkswagen pulled a similar kind of trick in 1994 when it was trying to prevent the firing of 30, 000 employees by shortening their working hours. Porsche has been fully owned by Volkswagen since 2012 and the management style seems to carry over from Volkswagen to Porsche.

The German economy relies heavily on the car industry. Porsche is an example of a company that even in the middle of the recession takes time to acknowledge it employees’ hard working morale and skills and does not hesitate to reward them for it. While many more companies push their employees to work harder and longer days due to the recession, it is nice to see that some companies take concern over their employees’ well-being and health.

Image Courtesy: IFCAR, Released into the public domain¦ Wikimedia Commons