More policies have been introduced to encourage residents to go out to increase consumption—
Can "2.5 Days Small Holiday" Stimulate the Holiday Effect
Our reporter Han Bingzhi
As the prevention and control of the epidemic situation in China continues to consolidate, policies have been introduced in many places to encourage residents to go out and increase consumption.
Recently, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Longnan in Gansu have proposed encouraging 2.5 days off per week. Among them, Zhejiang and Jiangxi also plan to introduce consumer coupons and scenic spot policies to further stimulate cultural tourism consumption.
On March 19, Jiangxi Province issued the "Notice on Doing a Good" Combination Punch "to Boost Tourism Consumption". According to the notice, "Combination Boxing" includes scenic spot ticket discounts, flexible weekend schedules, and issuance of consumer coupons. Among them, it is clear in terms of flexible work and rest on weekends, and various units in various places have combined with reality to optimize work arrangements. In the second quarter of this year, a 2.5-day flexible work and rest on weekends was piloted to actively guide cadres and employees to go out for vacation on weekends.
Subsequently, Zhejiang Province introduced 16 measures to boost consumption, and proposed to encourage the implementation of a flexible working system of 4.5 days a week, and support qualified agencies, social groups, enterprises and institutions to implement the paid vacation system.
Longnan City, Gansu Province also issued a document to encourage 2.5-day vacation consumption, and made it clear that each Friday, when each administrative institution completed its work tasks and arranged on-duty staff, it could encourage the rest of the employees to take vacation tours.
In fact, the "2.5-day small holiday" is not a new attempt. As early as August 2015, the "Several Opinions on Further Promoting Tourism Investment and Consumption" issued by the General Office of the State Council proposed to encourage flexible work and rest. Qualified places and units can optimize and adjust the summer work schedule according to the actual situation according to law, and create favorable conditions for employees to go out for leisure vacations on Friday afternoon and weekends. Since then, more than 10 provinces including Jiangsu, Hebei, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Gansu, Liaoning, Anhui, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong have successively issued opinions to encourage 2.5-day vacations.
The concept of 2.5-day vacation is highly relevant to boost consumer demand, especially to hedge the economic and social impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, and encourage flexible vacation, which is regarded as an important measure to stimulate consumption. A study by the Renmin University of China on the impact of the vacation system on the service consumption of urban and rural residents shows that the impact of the vacation system on the per capita service consumption of urban and rural residents in our country is mainly manifested as a promoting role. Increasing the number of annual vacation days and implementing the dual-sabbatical system can promote per capita urban and rural residents Service consumption growth.
Some experts pointed out that the two-and-a-half-day vacation will help improve people's quality of life, boost domestic demand, and further tap the potential of paid vacation consumption.
Li Changan, a professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of International Business and Economics, believes that vacation time adjustment is not only an objective requirement for economic and social development, but also a necessary measure to protect the rights and interests of laborers. During the epidemic period and a period after the epidemic, allowing enterprises to adjust the labor system in a timely manner and flexibly determine employment policies according to their own operating conditions can make flexible employment forms more diversified. In Li Chang'an's view, the implementation of the "2.5-day small vacation" in various places will allow residents more time for leisure travel, which has a positive significance for encouraging consumption and stimulating domestic demand, and is also conducive to the implementation of the flexible vacation system.
However, although the "2.5-day small holiday" has been mentioned many times in the past few years, the implementation seems a bit "thunderous and rainy". The reporter noted that although most regions have promoted the implementation of the off-peak vacation system in government departments, the specific implementation has remained at the level of policy encouragement. Some netizens said bluntly that double weekends are still rare, not to mention 2.5 days off?
In fact, the 2.5-day vacation does not mean that the vacation is extended. Jiangxi Province made it clear that the working hours with reduced flexible work and rest should be adjusted back by extending the length of other working days. The requirements for flexible work and rest are encouraging and advocacy measures, not mandatory requirements, nor a one-size-fits-all approach across the province. All units in various regions can voluntarily implement them according to their own actual situation, and the specific method of adjustment of leave is also determined by each unit. From the perspective of the employer, many enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are affected by the epidemic and face operational difficulties and reduced profits. At this time, giving employees flexible leave will undoubtedly increase the burden on enterprises.
People in the industry believe that the effective implementation of the flexible vacation model mainly lies in how to arouse the enthusiasm of all parties. Li Changan believes that the implementation of the "2.5-day small vacation" must first solve the basic rights and interests of employees. At the same time, we must actively explore the feasible method of implementing the "2.5-day small vacation", which requires the enterprise to arrange the work schedule and intensity reasonably, and establish a scientific rotation of employees. In order to ensure the normal operation of the employer, the “flexible work and rest” arrangement will have the basis for implementation.
Experts pointed out that the current epidemic prevention and control is not over yet, and there is a lot of pressure on overseas imports. The implementation of the 2.5-day small holiday should not be rushed. It will take longer to pilot and explore in a small area. At the same time, boosting consumption in the form of a 2.5-day small holiday, in fact, puts forward higher requirements for the improvement of the infrastructure on the supply side such as the tourism industry.
Han Bingzhi