Unproductive plan

THE pilot scheme to introduce a four-day working week raises a number of issues.

The most obvious is that employees will receive an effective 20 per cent pay increase for working four days instead of five.

A production manager knows the potential capacity of their business and its actual output. Output is measured against capacity to measure efficiency and the ideal is to reach 100 per cent.

Factors such as machine downtime, staff sickness etc, reduce efficiency whereas it can be increased by introducing new technology or overtime working

Companies taking part in the pilot scheme claim output will not be affected. If that is the case, either the efficiency of the business working five days a week has to be questioned or employees must increase output by 20 per cent — and all at a time when mental illness through stress is increasing.

It just does not add up when manufacturing industry is being implored to increase production.

LINDSAY WALKER, Strachur, Argyll.