Abstract

The bill on the reduction of the working week submitted to the Italian Parliament provides an opportunity for a critical and constructive reflection on the role that a reduction in terms of standard working time can play in pursuing the goal of increasing and maintaining a high employment rate. To this end, the essay sets out to discuss what are the systemic conditions in order for demand and production growth to deploy their employment-generating potential in full, while at the same time generating more employment and more leisure time, potentially for all those who participate in the ongoing process of change (and not only for the few who are in a position to work less). Two conditions are identified: a) allowing for a decrease in working hours (tendentially) in line with an increase in hourly labour productivity; and b) allowing for an increase in real hourly wages, also in line with hourly labour productivity. By coupling employment growth and wage growth, a working time reform would thus help to proactively address one of the fundamental problems of our socio-economic system, that has remained unanswered for decades. The essay also emphasises that, in order to increase the social sustainability of growth, particularly in this difficult phase of technological and demographic transition, a new system of rules to improve working conditions is fundamental.