I am fascinated by the topic of the future of work. That everything is changing is evident, understanding how it is more complicated. To try, you have to follow the right signals. For example what is happening in Bitpanda. It is an Austrian startup that deals with finance and has grown a lot not only in terms of valuation, over four billion euros, but as employees, almost a thousand (there were 150 at the beginning of the pandemic). A year ago a young Dutch manager Lindsay Ross arrived to manage these thousand people and the first thing she thought was: “Oh my god, everyone is working like crazy here, they need a vacation”.
The four day work week
by Riccardo Luna
And he convinced the three founders to close everything for a week. Everything, so that when you are on vacation you are not chased by phone calls and emails, and when you come back you do not find a mountain of accumulated work. It worked, after that week the employees came back full and ready to work better than before. The break week was thus institutionalized: everyone stops twice a year (obviously the customer service remains active and takes breaks at different times).
I was fired
by Riccardo Luna
Someone objected: they take these breaks because the rest of the year they work too much, otherwise they would burst. And Lindsay Ross has relaunched: unlimited paid vacation for everyone. Not a bengodi, but a pact of trust. Ross says: “We are adults, tell us what you need and when and together we find a solution.” Moral: people can only run at their maximum for a certain period, managing breaks is essential to work better, last longer and live happily. Maybe the work is really changing, in the meantime I am rooting for Bitpanda.