Sal Oppenheim staff work shorter week to cut costs

More than 30 researchers at Oppenheim Research, the independent research subsidiary of private bank Sal Oppenheim, have started working four-day weeks twice a month as the company reduces capacity to cope with the markets' downturn.

Sal Oppenheim counts Karl Otto Pöhl, the former president of Germany's Bundesbank, as a member of its shareholder committee.

Wolfgang Sawazki, head of research, said the move means Oppenheim Research can hold on to its top employees: "We've already laid off all the underperformers. Our remaining capacity is now more flexible. We can stick to the current high-quality platform instead of cutting research altogether on certain companies and sectors."

Working a four-day week is not mandatory, but Sawazki said it is proving popular. All the company's German analysts have opted for the programme, which gives them more than a month's extra holiday every year.