Cologno Monzese-based company TRIA has introduced a shorter working week: as of January, all employees of the plastic processing technology specialist will see their working hours cut from 40 to 36 hours per week with no reduction in pay.

According to the company, the origins of the decision date back to the spring 2020 COVID lockdown, when the company immediately introduced a work from home policy and from one day to the next employees found themselves having to organize their work and working hours autonomously.

The result was that during the lockdown period, the company actually reported an improvement in productivity and an increase in revenue. Also, the company designed new technologies and innovative machines which were well received when they were unveiled at K 2022.

TRIA introduces shorter working week.

When the mandatory work-from-home period ended, the good results that had been achieved made TRIA’s CEO Stefano Venturelli wonder whether the company should pay even more attention to its employees’ work-life balance and give them more free time for leisure activities and their private lives.

So last summer, even before the news was released by one of Italy’s largest banks, the management and HR manager embarked on a feasibility study into the shorter working week, ultimately deciding to introduce it for an experimental period of 7 months starting in January 2023.

“We emerged from the COVID-19 period stronger than before, and this new way of working has allowed us to devote more time to our interests and families while fulfilling our professional duties and bringing objective improvements in terms of our company goals,” said Venturelli.

“This project will certainly lead to further developments,” commented Stefania Fumagalli, TRIA's HR Manager, at the meeting organized to inform employees and the relevant bodies about the company procedures and activities that have made this innovation possible, including upgraded IT systems and the introduction of SAP solutions in 2018, the reorganisation of production processes, and the excellent level of productivity achieved.

The idea of the shorter working week was the result of a coordinated effort that included the contribution of trade unionist Rosy Baioni in the evaluation and definition phases. The proposal was greeted with enthusiasm by employees, who are all aware of the responsibility it entails and are delighted to be one of the first Italian companies to adopt this new working practice.