Billionaire Carlos Slim calls for three-day working week and later retirement

Mexican tycoon argues a shorter, but longer, working week would boost productivity and happiness

Carlos Slim has built a telecoms and retail empire that spans the US and most of Latin America (Reuters)

Carlos Slim, the world's second richest man, has called for a three-day working week, arguing that a shorter week, offset by longer hours and later retirement, would boost productivity and improve our quality of life.

"People are going to have to work for more years, until they are 70 or 75, and just work three days a week- perhaps 11 hours a day," the Financial Times quoted Slim as saying during a business conference in Paraguay.

He added: "With three work days a week, we would have more time to relax; for quality of life. Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied."

This isn't the first time the Mexican tycoon calls for a radical overhaul in working hours and retirement. In an interview with Mexico's El Universal newspaper, Mr Slim suggested that the retirement age should be raised to 70, arguing that the current pensions system was established “when jobs were more physical and people died at 60, but now we live until 85 or 90.”

Mr Slim is frequently ranked as the world's second richest man thanks to his America Movil telecoms empire. The company's dominant position across Latin America and his native Mexico, where America Movil is the number one operator, has made him worth $71.5 billion (£41 billion), according to Bloomberg.