A Four-day Work Week

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 7 December 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:27, 7 December 2021

Llywydd, I think that where there are businesses—and I know that Technovent in Bridgend, which is, I'm sure, well known to the Member, is one of those businesses that has expressed such an interest—of course where there are businesses that decide that it's in their commercial interest to move in that direction now, the Welsh Government would be keen to support them. In general, as Luke Fletcher has said, Llywydd, we are very keen to learn from experience elsewhere. When I was in Glasgow at COP26, I had an opportunity to meet with the First Minister of Scotland, the Prime Minister of Iceland, and with senior figures from New Zealand, as part of a network to which we all belong, looking at the future of work. And I was very interested to hear of the developments that have taken place in Iceland already, and that the Scottish Government has proposed for this Senedd term. And we will, through that network to which we belong, continue to look at the experience that others are getting, bring that information back to Wales to see what possibilities there are for us. But none of that precludes us supporting local initiatives, where companies have already concluded that, for them, a four-day working week is in their own commercial interest.