Report: Lamborghini Implementing Four Day Work Week
At the start of autumn months, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) launched a strike amid contract negotiations with domestic carmakers. Initial demands were lofty, designed to force the industry into making compromises that benefited union labor, and included things like a four-day work week for those on the assembly line.
While dubbed ridiculous by some Americans, Lamborghini now appears to be offering its workers a three-day weekend in Europe. The involved unions claimed it was the first time in the European automotive sector reduced hours while simultaneously increasing wages.
Italian trade unions FIOM and FIM-CISL were said to be pleased with the deal, according to Reuters, with the groups citing an unprecedented level of progress in contract negotiations.
From Reuters:
"Work less and work better, this is the principle that guided this negotiation, and which is part of a comprehensive reasoning," a statement from FIOM and FIM-CISL said.
Production workers on a rotating two-shift schedule will alternate a five-day week with a four-day week, overall cutting 22 days of work each year, the unions said.
Those on a three-shift [rotation], which includes night shifts too, will have a five-day week alternated with two four-day weeks, cutting their yearly working days by 31.
There have been studies knocking around for ages suggesting that similar scheduling reduces employee burnout and may even make a workforce more cost-effective over time. It’s also a nice way to reduce labor when not needed that doesn’t require the kind of headlines that include terms like “widespread layoffs.”
Volkswagen Group, which currently owns Lamborghini, began toying with four day work weeks in 1993 at six European factories. Rather than issuing layoffs, VW put together a labor contract that started as an experiment but ended up being renewed several times. The current deal with Lamborghini is part of a broader renegotiation of the framework and may not have gotten green lit if Volkswagen had not seen some level of success running workers on reduced schedules in the past. European nations have likewise been more accepting of the concept than the United States.
At the start of 2023, Italian international banking organization Intesa Sanpaolo floated a similar premise to its workforce and claimed 70 percent of the 30,000 employees who had the option of running four-day weeks requested them. Panasonic has also been offering four-day weeks to some employees since 2022.
Though Europe seems to be the region most interested in having a third day off. Reuters even stated that Italian aerospace and defense contractor Leonardo was working with unions to establish “flexible working benefits” to team members on production lines. While that may not turn into normalizing shorter weekly schedules, it’s something most Italian businesses appear willing to discuss.
[Image: Lamborghini]
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Consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulations. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, he has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed about the automotive sector by national broadcasts, participated in a few amateur rallying events, and driven more rental cars than anyone ever should. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and learned to drive by twelve. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer and motorcycles.
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In 2022 Lamborghini sold 9,233 vehicles globally (a record); 3,482 in the U.S.
You know how I feel about low-volume vehicles. 😉
Will be interesting to see how this works. Where I worked before I retired a 4 day work week was offered with 10 hour days. I myself did not take it but I did work the telework work which required going into the office 2 days every 2 weeks. During Covid the 2 day requirement was not required. I still managed to go into the office during Covid at least once or twice a month to pick up mail. My employer consolidated 4 offices into 1 since most were working telework and for the days you went into the office you reserved a temporary space. The cost savings was over a million a year after retrofitting the office space in the remaining building to smaller cubicals. Having the telework was more important to many of the workers than a pay raise.