Malaysian employers say no to 4-day work week because it will raise costs

Apparently public holidays average out to four-day work weeks anyway. ??

April 13, 2022

Malaysian employers say no to 4-day work week because it will raise costs

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we can still be productive at work despite not being physically present at the office.

Recent work experiments taking place in Japan have also shown that shortening the work-week from five days down to four could also result with increased productivity, and general workplace happiness.

However, some employers in Malaysia feel the country isn't 'ready' for it yet.

Less work days, higher costs.

IMAGE: Patrick Amoy / Unsplash

According to Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Soh Thian Lai, most employers in the country (especially SMEs) just aren't ready for a four-day work week. He also claimed that the amount of public holidays, maternity leave, sick leave, and similar days-off offered in Malaysia already averages out the work week to four days.

“As it stands currently, an employee working five days per week is effectively working an average of about four days a week after taking into account the many public holidays, sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, and others," he said.

“As such, reduced hours per week or a four-day week is not required."

Even if that were the case (though we can't exactly verify the math), another reason Soh cited against a four-day work week was the high cost it would entail for employers. Using 24/7 factory operations as an example, Soh said any work performed beyond the four days would mean more overtime.

IMAGE: Bloomberg / New Straits Times

“Someone, in this case, the consumer, will have to bear the costs of new hours of work, which will be passed on to the products and services that the industries provide,” he said.

Again, putting focus on sectors that require physical presence on the production floor, Soh argues that not even work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements will be effective. If anything, it might put more pressure on employees to work overtime.

“We need to have a clear understanding and determine clear baseline measures such as companies’ revenues, employees’ productivity, carbon footprint, and others under the present hours of work in Malaysia and compare these with the proposed changes to the shorter work hours.

“Until and unless a detailed study is undertaken, Malaysia should not embark on this new hours of work arrangement as it may result in a disastrous outcome,” he said.

If the manufacturing sector were to shorten its work week, Soh thinks it would only be possible with more automation taking place on production floors. However, automation in Malaysia is still very much in its infancy. Until then, the five-day work week is here to stay.

However, these words come from FMM, which is effectively a union for employers, not employees. Naturally, cost would be emphasized in the four-day work week debate.

Elsewhere, four-day work weeks have shown great promise.

IMAGE: New Straits Times

Employees at Microsoft Japan got to work four days a week in the summer of 2019 – while still earning their regular five-day work week salaries. The result? A 40-percent productivity boost. The technology giant also reported massive savings, lowering electricity costs by 23 percent and printing nearly 60 percent fewer pages.

Over in Belgium, employees are allowed to opt-in to a four-day work week if they feel it fits their needs better. Their employers can only reject this request if they have a good enough reason to. Additionally, employees can choose to ignore any after-hours phone calls from their employers without worrying about the repercussions. Effectively, all work-related matters don't have a place during personal hours.

Perhaps Malaysian employers will see the benefit of this if, you know, they give it a go?