This is the best summary I could come up with:

It sounds counterintuitive: While Germany, like many countries, struggles to find enough workers, dozens of companies are starting an experiment that will see employees work a day less.

If companies can maintain their current output with employees working fewer hours, this would naturally lead to higher productivity levels.

This model could also potentially draw more people into the workforce by engaging those who aren't willing to work five days a week, helping to alleviate the lack of labor.

Recent data from the German health insurance company DAK shows that workers in Germany took 20 sick days on average last year.

Holger Schäfer, a researcher at Cologne's German Economic Institute (IW), says it's a fantasy to expect a 25% increase in productivity in exchange for a 20% reduction in working hours.

Economist Bernd Fitzenberg of Germany's Institute for Employment Research (IAB) says a 4-day week could mean higher costs for companies if "spreading working hours over just four days is not offset by productivity gains."

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