An employee makes underwear for export orders in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Guizhou Province on February 20, 2023. Local workers are ramping up efforts to produce underwear for shipment to Europe and the US.Photo: cnsphoto

A cultural and creative company in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, has gone viral online because the recruitment information stated that employees can enjoy the treatment of three days off a week. So far, it has received thousands of resumes and job applications in a short period of time.

According to the company's recruitment notice, the three-day free time of employees per week is guaranteed under the condition of salary and social security. "But three days off doesn't mean that the employees don't do their work at all. Instead, they still need to deal with the company's affairs in a timely manner," said manager in charge of the company.

The manager also introduced that the company has three employees at the moment, the profit of the company is just enough to pay the salary, and there is no stable source of customers at this stage.

This approach has caused many discussions and controversies on social media, and some applicants have also backed out after learning about the company's situation.

"I think there should still be a clear boundary between work and rest, which is the most efficient for both the employees and the company," said a netizen on Chinese social media.

In fact, some companies in countries including the UK, Iceland, and Japan have already implemented four-day workweeks, with employees working 32 hours a week instead of 40, without a cut in pay.

Some experiments show that when stress is reduced and happiness is increased, productivity does not fall but rises, despite shorter working hours.