B&R made a commitment

Sealed: The two-day week will soon be over

Jörg Theis manages the automation specialist B&R in Eggelsberg, which is part of the ABB Group. The two-day week brought the company a flood of applicants last year.(Bild: Markus Wenzel, Krone KREATIV)

Working two ten-hour shifts every weekend and earning the same as a full-time job: B&R attracted many applicants last year with this working model. There had been repeated speculation about extending the two-day week. Now, however, the Upper Austrian automation specialist has made a firm decision: in two and a half weeks, it will be over.

"Even my letter carrier approached me because he wanted to know what we were doing." Jörg Theis told this anecdote in spring 2023, when the two-day week was launched at the automation specialist he manages.

Paid like a full-time job
Due to a huge surge in orders, B&R had put together a special package in consultation with the works council and the trade unions. What was included? Additional ten-hour shifts on Saturdays and Sundays were scheduled for one year, for which the company's own employees were sought - a two-day week paid like a full-time job!

B&R obviously hit the nail on the head with this model: 700 applicants were received within five weeks alone - from Upper Austria and Salzburg, but also from Styria and Germany. In the end, the company took on an additional 300 employees to fill the vacancies.

The last shift ends at 10 p.m. on February 25
And what happens now? Even though there had been repeated speculation about extending the working time model, B&R made a firm decision: the two-day week will end as planned. The last shift will therefore end at 10 p.m. on February 25.