Of the 90 companies that expressed interest in joining the four-day work week, around 30 formalized their decision to join the pilot project, said the Secretary of State for Labour, Miguel Fontes.
“About 30 [empresas] already formalized [a sua decisão] and there is a universe of companies – some have already said no – that have asked us for more time because they have not yet concluded the internal decision-making process”, said the Secretary of State, in statements to Lusa.
“Our objective was to have a number of no less than 30 and that number we already have, most likely we will even surpass that threshold”, added Miguel Fontes, underlining that “many companies are still considering” the decision.
The Secretary of State also explained that the deadline of February 15, mentioned last week by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, in an interview with Business and Antena 1, so that companies could express interest in joining the project “it is merely indicative”.
“In our work plan we established the 15th of February so that the companies that participated in the workshopswho contacted us to express interest, basically convert this expression of interest into a more effective decision to participate (…) but several companies have already asked us for more days, because they are still considering”, he explained.
The companies will thus have “a few more days, a few more weeks” to do so, said Miguel Fontes, referring that “the firm timetable is that the pilot project itself begins on 1 June”.
“Between the end of February and the beginning of March and the 1st of June, we are able to accommodate information sessions to help companies organize themselves”, he guaranteed.
Last week, the Minister of Labour, Ana Mendes Godinho, said that the number of companies that expressed interest in joining the four-day workweek pilot program totaled 90, adding that the deadline for enrolling in the pilot projects ended today, the 15th.
According to the minister, companies interested in joining are from various sectors, above all industry, commerce, information and communication, with different geographical areas and sizes.