6 working days per week.. A country heading to increase working days in a direction opposite to the global trend

Arab Weather - Greece is moving in a direction opposite to the global trend regarding working days and hours, as employees have been informed of the possibility of working a sixth day per week under recent legislation. This comes at a time when many countries are moving towards reducing the weekly working days from five to four days and aiming to This unconventional move in Greece to "increase productivity" according to the authorities, but trade unions described it as "barbaric."

Government justifications and demographic transition

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's pro-business government says the initiative "became necessary due to the dual risks of a shrinking population and a shortage of skilled workers."

Mitsotakis described the expected demographic shift as a “ticking time bomb,” before announcing the legislation, which comes as part of a broader set of labor laws passed last year.

Brain drain crisis

It is estimated that about 500,000 Greeks, most of them young, educated people, have emigrated from the country since the outbreak of the debt crisis in late 2009. The government says the six-day plan will only apply to private companies that provide 24-hour services. Under the extended work week, employees in certain industries and establishments will have the option to work an additional two hours per day, or an additional eight-hour shift (sixth day), with a 40 percent daily wage increase.

• reactions

Before Parliament approved the law, Mitsotakis said:

“The core of this legislation is labor-friendly and deeply growth-oriented, bringing Greece in line with the rest of Europe.”

But the backlash has been fierce and swift, with critics asserting that the move ultimately represents "death to the five-day work week." Opponents, who have already taken to the streets in protest, see the legislation as "eroding workers' legal protections and rolling back their well-established rights."

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