11.19.2024

4.5-day week enhances employee satisfaction in the production department

Flexitime and smart working models are part of everyday life in large companies today, but implementing them in a production-focused company like TechnoAlpin presents unique challenges. While office staff employees benefit from a higher degree of flexibility, employees in the production building are inevitably bound by fixed working hours. Now though, an innovative working time model is significantly improving the work-life balance in production. These employees still work 40 hours a week, but the time is spread over 4.5 days. The 100 or so employees in production now start their weekend on a Friday morning at 11 o'clock. "Our priority was to find a model that better aligns with employees' needs without compromising productivity," says Production Manager Stefan Reinstadler. Ultimately, all snow producers have to be delivered at the start of the winter season. "The 40-hour week spread over 4.5 days has proven to be a highly effective solution, resulting in a further increase in employee satisfaction."

At the same time, several part-time positions have been created in the pre-assembly hall. "We have noticed that our female colleagues often excel in assembling small parts and cables. "To encourage more women to join production roles, we have introduced part-time positions in this area," adds Stefan Reinstadler. We currently have 5 part-time female employees working in production.

Every year, a hundred or so employees make around 5,000 snow producers – fan guns and lances in equal number – in the company's factory in Bolzano. Valves, cooling towers, pits and snow producers for indoor facilities are also manufactured here.