After the shift to distant work, new hope for a four-day workweek
The five-day, 40-hour workweek has been the usual for greater than 100 years. But the shifts caused since 2020 by the pandemic are prompting new speak {that a} four-day workweek makes extra sense.
The world shift over the previous two years to distant work has led to one thing sudden: an uptick within the adoption of a four-day workweek, elevating hopes {that a} tipping level might come quickly.
In various industries, requires a change to the usual five-day, 40-hour week grew after many firms started to rethink how work is completed within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This has given organizations the confidence they need to consider adopting flexible work arrangements such as the four-day week,” mentioned Raúl Castañón, senior analyst at 451 Research, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
[ Related: Why not a four-day workweek? ]
There are a wide range of current examples of firms attempting out a four-day week or shifting towards one completely. Bolt, a fintech startup, lately dedicated to a four-day week long run, as did social media software program agency Buffer final 12 months. Crowd-funding firm Kickstarter is because of begin a trial this 12 months, Unilever ran a pilot for staffers in New Zealand final 12 months, Panasonic pledged final month to present staff a four-day-week possibility, and actual property administration agency JLL hinted at related intentions.
“Demand for a four-day workweek is growing,” mentioned David Spencer, professor of economics and political financial system on the UK’s University of Leeds.
For staff, the thought is that an extra time without work will enhance autonomy, enhance well-being and scale back stress. There are benefits for employers, too: people who have moved to a shorter week have indicated staff are simply as productive when well-rested and centered, and corporations can reduce down on sick go away.
“This suggests that a five-day workweek may be relatively inefficient,” mentioned Spencer.
And with the battle to recruit and retain workers already below approach, a shorter week is seen as yet one more approach companies can appeal to and retain one of the best staff.
The lengthy street to a brief week
The five-day workweek has been the usual for US staff because the begin of the twentieth century, following many years of labor reforms. By 1926, staff at Ford’s auto manufacturing crops have been supplied a five-day, 40-hour week, as a shorter week and diminished hours reached mainstream acceptance.
Two years later, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted a 15-hour workweek inside a century. (That didn’t pan out, in fact.) And regardless of improvements within the ensuing many years that improved employee output — and continued requires a discount in hours — the four-day workweek has remained largely out of attain. Recent Gallup ballot knowledge signifies that 5% of US staff now work 4 days every week; twice as many (11%) put in six days, with the overwhelming majority (84%) toiling away for 5.
“Technology may have secured us the ability to produce more stuff, but it has not yet won us the freedom to work less,” mentioned Spencer.
But the idea by no means fades utterly. State-backed trials in a number of international locations have surfaced some constructive results of a shorter week and supply a glimpse of the way it may very well be applied.
A extensively famous pilot scheme in Iceland — carried out between 2015 and 2019, with findings revealed final 12 months — noticed hours for two,500 staff diminished from 40 every week to 35, leading to a spread of worker well-being advantages and improved productiveness. Similar outcomes got here from a trial in Sweden, revealed in 2017, the place healthcare staff switched to six-hour days, although each initiatives led to elevated prices of workers recruitment.
In the personal sector, numerous firms have examined the thought. Microsoft tried a four-day week with workers in Japan on a brief foundation in 2019, for instance, noting a elevate in each workers well-being and productiveness.
Remote work opens door to new patterns
The renewed curiosity in thought ow stems from the willingness of firms to experiment with new methods of working. The shift to distant work loosened ties with the usual 9-to-5 workplace routine, with many looking for versatile schedules to take care of youngsters or care for fogeys whereas working from house. In essence, if staffers can be found for conferences when vital — and output stays the identical — it’s much less essential the place, or when, an worker truly works.
“It’s no surprise that some of the most visible proponents of the four-day workweek are companies that have been doing fully remote work for some time, because they’re essentially saying, ‘We don’t need to do this for five days arbitrarily. As long as we’re getting the job done, take whatever time you want,’” mentioned James McQuivey, vp and analysis director at analyst agency Forrester.
“[The four-day week] is really facilitated by the shift in thinking of, ‘How many hours is someone working?’ versus ‘How much value are they creating?’” he mentioned.
A four-day week has additionally been touted as a solution to scale back stress for distant staff. Despite preliminary issues about staff’ capability to stay productive at house, early indications are that the other is true: burnout is extra a problem as staff work extra hours at house and battle to change off outdoors of the normal 9-to-5 day.
“COVID showed us that you can send workers home and they’ll end up working just as hard, if not harder,” mentioned Grace Lordan, affiliate professor on the London School of Economics and founding director of The Inclusion Initiative on the UK college.
“You have a population of workers who have been on call for a long time, so it’s not surprising they’re burnt out. Demands [for a four-day week] are coming from the fact that people realize this is unsustainable.”
A four-day week in observe
At safety software program firm DNSFilter, staff reported “less stress, higher productivity levels, and increased job satisfaction” because the begin of a four-day week pilot venture final 12 months, mentioned Laura Durfee, director of expertise acquisition at DNSFilter.
DNSFilter presents a four-day week “on rotation,” with two teams of staff alternately taking a Friday off, with the identical pay and advantages as earlier than. The initiative was deemed a hit, and the association has since been made everlasting.
A two-day weekend is not sufficient time for many individuals to totally recharge, mentioned Dufree — particularly within the “new normal,” the place work and private lives are blurred and the typical “workday” has been informally prolonged. With a three-day weekend, staff have extra time to dedicate to private issues and appointments, she mentioned, that means they have an inclination to perform far more within the 4 days they’re truly at work.
Another motivator has been attracting and retaining expertise, mentioned Durfee. “As a high-growth startup, we are competing against many major players to hire the best employees, and four-day workweeks are a huge differentiator.”
At New Zealand recruitment agency Talent Army, the transfer to a four-day week additionally boosted productiveness ranges. Talent Army’s plan concerned giving all staff the choice of taking Friday off, with one particular person designated to be “on-call” on a rotating foundation every week to reply pressing inquiries. “We found people were able to get their work done in the four days with very minimal work being done on our day off,” mentioned Troy Hammond, founding father of Talent Army.
Working within the service enterprise meant it was crucial for Talent Army to speak the change to prospects to clean the transition, mentioned Hammond. “We had to educate our clients to know that we would not be online one day a week,” he mentioned. And whereas it was a problem at first, purchasers have been supportive and suggestions was constructive.
How to prepare a four-day week with out disruption
There are quite a few methods to arrange a four-day week. For many, it merely means all workers get a set time without work every week with no change in remuneration. (At some firms, a four-day week is optionally available, with pay diminished accordingly.)
Other methods embrace condensing a full 40-hour week into 4 10-hour days, with no internet discount in working time; switching from 5 eight-hour days to 5 six-hour days; a four-day week applied biweekly, with a time without work each different week; and a four-day week launched seasonally, with staff given a time without work every week throughout quieter summer time months. Some organizations supply “flexible” or “agile” Fridays, the place staff are nonetheless anticipated to be on name if wanted.
Not all companies discover it simple to strike the suitable steadiness. Wellcome Trust, a UK well being analysis basis, ended its four-day week experiment in 2019, for instance, claiming it was “too operationally complex to implement” completely.
The challenges concerned shouldn’t be underestimated, mentioned McQuivey, significantly for organizations with extra difficult workforce buildings.
“Very large companies would be cautioned against jumping into this too aggressively, because the larger the company, the more varied the departments and divisions are, and the more varied the work requirements,” mentioned McQuivey.
Judging staff extra on output and fewer on hours labored can also be simpler mentioned than performed.
“The first question is, ‘How are you going to measure whether someone is doing their job?’ That’s harder than it looks,” he mentioned. “There are a lot of people in software development where their job really can be measured by the amount of code that they manage in a week and projects that they deliver in a month. But even in those circumstances, there are still softer measures such as, ‘Is someone contributing to the training of their peers, the team spirit, the culture of the organization?’ and so on.”
Clarity on how efficiency is evaluated is crucial so staff don’t wind up working greater than supposed simply to please their boss, mentioned McQuivey. “If you advertise a four-day workweek and you end up delivering a four-and-a-half-day workweek, that’s only going to undermine work culture and relationships,” he mentioned.
What comes subsequent?
Despite the challenges, four-day week initiatives look like on the upswing. Nonprofit group 4 Day Week Global has coordinated a number of pilot schemes globally, with 30 firms within the UK lately committing to trials. Similar initiatives have been run within the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia.
Governments have additionally taken notice; Ireland, Scotland, and Spain all have dedicated to offer help for firms to experiment with a four-day week.
In the US, Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) proposed a invoice final 12 months that will see the equal of a four-day week applied for all staff by lowering the usual workweek to 32 hours, one other signal of potential mainstream acceptance.
Lordan thinks a four-day week is probably going, not less than for these in roles suited to versatile schedules. But she expects a transition section might proceed for a while. Just as some staff will gravitate to firms that provide hybrid distant work, some employers will cater to staff that prioritize well-being and work-life steadiness over elevated pay. That’s a rising development, she mentioned, significantly amongst youthful staff. Other folks might select organizations the place they’ve much less autonomy however higher pay.
McQuivey mentioned that, anecdotally not less than, there’s elevated curiosity in a four-day week amongst Forrester’s enterprise purchasers. But different future-of-work subjects, comparable to adapting to hybrid work — a key problem for a lot of — are larger up the listing of enterprise priorities.
“We’re not seeing people come to us specifically to say, ‘We’re ready to consider [a four-day week] and we want to know how to do how to go about it.’ It’s on a list of things that companies are considering,” he mentioned.
Smaller companies comparable to software program firms with specialised workforces (and a small variety of roles) could also be best-suited for a four-day week at first, mentioned McQuivey.
The highlight can be on early adopters to see how they fare, with profitable long-term initiatives doubtless constructing momentum for a wider uptake.
“The question is, do those companies do it effectively enough that it becomes an advantage for them?” mentioned McQuivey.