There might be yet another reason as to why Malta should consider adopting a 4 day working week – and it could do with solving the well-known traffic problems the island is known for. 

Simon Ursell and three other co-founders of environmental consultancy Tyler Grange in the UK decided to participate in the biggest ever four-day working week trial which took place from June to December 2022. 

The increase in productivity, by around 22%, was very much welcomed and reported earlier on. However, the company wanted to measure the impact the shorter workweek on the company’s carbon footprint. 

‘On average, we saw a 21% reduction in then number of miles travelled by car, explained Ursell. Employees used their additional days off offered the opportunity to reduce unnecessary travelling. 

“Although climate benefits are the most challenging thing to measure, we have a lot of research showing that over time, as countries reduce hours of work, their carbon emissions fall” explained Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College. 

‘A 10% reduction in hours is associated to an 8.6% fall in carbon footprint’, a study co-authored by Schor in 2012.

What does this have to do with Malta? Well, given the intense traffic jams which block off many roads as workers make their way to their respective work sites, a four day work week could limit a lot of travelling and open up more time for workers to find possibly community building activities on their time off.

When asked about the 4 day work week, finance minister Clyde Caruana had shut the idea down as he said that this would only be considered if the education levels of Malta improved considerably. 

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