According to new studies, a four-day workweek would help businesses and employees alike.
Under an advocacy campaign called 4 Day Week Global, 33 businesses in 6 countries including the UK where staff members paid the same wage but were only expected to work 32 hours a week instead of 40.
The group’s website states, “The trials have been a tremendous success in practically every dimension. With practically all of them already committed or planned to keep the four-day workweek productivity schedule, companies are quite happy with their performance, productivity, and general experience.
Employees claim they appreciated the additional day off and were not bothered by having their daily typical job output rise by 25%. This would guarantee a long weekend. Coupled with the rise in remote work brought on by the current epidemic, worker satisfaction levels could rise to unprecedented levels in decades.
Some businesses would benefit more from the modification than others since bankers, clerks, and first responders would not be able to close shop four days a week. Proponents counter that allowing such companies to remain open during regular business hours would be possible by staggering staff schedules.
The study also showed that the companies taking part in the experiment had average increases in profitability of 8%. Every employer engaged decided to keep giving its staff a reduced schedule once the six-month experiment came to an end.
Critics of the policy contend that the main problem with the system is the more stress employees have now having to finish forty hours worth of work in just thirty-two. They contend that everyday managers checking on remote workers would take too much time and cause employees to feel burned out over time.
Supporters counter that software meant for time tracking for remote workers would let management ensure their staff members are on target without interfering with their work by phone call or text message. According to a recent survey, sixty percent of businesses now run the program.
Several of the firms in the study also employ “dedicated work hours,” when staff members log off from the Slack channel or another chat tool, turn off their cell phones, and work for two hours straight free from interruption or distraction. They contend that this approach combined with fewer and shorter meetings would allow staff members adequate time to complete daily tasks.
The concept is also beginning to fly across the pond, where a bill recently presented in the Maryland State House of Delegates encourages state and local governments as well as provide tax incentives for businesses with more than thirty employees to take into consideration implementing a reduced workweek.
With Delegate April Rose stating to a local television station, “They need to leave [private enterprises] alone, and not dictate who they pay, how much they pay, and it really does need to be a market decision,” the opposition argues that the bill represents unnecessary state intervention in the affairs of private businesses. Every firm is unique.
Other nations, especially South Korea, have suggested heading in the other direction. The National Legislature at the time largely approved of the country’s decision to cut its maximum weekly working hours from 68 to 52. The present government of the country has suggested raising that number to 69 hours of work every week, however, citing labor market flexibility and hopes that the change would help to slow down the fast dropping fertility rates of the country.
Whether or not a tracking four-day workweek performance using Controlio is adopted generally, one thing is certain: businesses who have already made the change are reluctant to revert to five days. Workers who participated in the six-month pilot program said they would only be interested in working the extra day should compensation increase between 10% and 50% of their regular wage.
While skeptics point out that workers would be unlikely to opt to work an extra day over most of their colleagues while given the same wage, some have suggested that employees should be given the flexibility to choose between a four-day and a five-day workweek.