Two years ago, if I said we’d all be working remotely, you’d laugh. Suffering through over eight-hour days, five days a week in the office was the punishing standard, until Covid-19 hit. Then, the unthinkable happened. Companies dispatched their employees out of the office and told them to work remotely. What seemed like a crazy idea to CEOs became widely successful. Once people tasted the freedom of not having to commute two hours a day and being chained to a cubicle, they didn’t want to go back to the pre-pandemic past.
I recently spoke at length with Andrew Barnes, the founder of New Zealand-based financial services firm Perpetual Guardian, and his partner, Charlotte Lockhart, about their mission to get corporations to change the traditional workweek to only four days. Barnes previously implemented a four-day workweek at his company. The results were so positive that Barnes embarked upon a campaign to get other companies to join him.
Barnes and Lockhart are at the forefront of the four-day workweek revolution. The forward-thinking executives established the 4 Day Week Global Foundation to fund research into the future of work and workplace well-being. The goal is to build a global coalition moving companies toward the adoption of a four-day workweek.
The duo pointed out that last year shattered the myth of people needing to trek into the office every single day. It’s high time that we confront other work taboos as well. In addition to the four-day workweek, the two leaders of the movement say that companies can be creative and innovative. The post-pandemic future of work could also include four or five-hour workdays, half days and staggered flexible schedules where people come and go based on their lifestyle needs, as well as hybrid and remote models.
Aziz Hasan, the CEO of crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter, is one of the first companies to commit to the pilot program. “Kickstarter has a history of thoughtfully approaching the way we design our workplace. As we build a future that is flexible, we see testing a four-day workweek as a continuation of that spirit and intention,” Hasan said in a company statement.
There have been a number of companies and countries tinkering with the four-day workweek. Microsoft Japan experimented with a shorter workweek program, called “Work-Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer.” The company gave its 2,300 employees the opportunity to “choose a variety of flexible work styles, according to the circumstances of work and life.” The goal of management was to see if there would be a corresponding increase in productivity and morale when hours are cut down. The results of the experiment were extremely positive—indicative that workers were both happier and 40% more productive.
Spain previously announced that it would experiment with a trial four-day workweek. The Spanish government agreed to a 32-hour workweek over three years without cutting workers’ compensation. The Washington Post reported, “The pilot program is intended to reduce employers’ risk by having the government make up the difference in salary when workers switch to a four-day schedule.”
Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland, promoted shortening the amount of time people work when she was on the campaign trail. Marin put forth the idea of companies adopting a flexible six-hour day and/or a four-day workweek at a panel discussion before she became prime minister. She said, “I believe people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones, hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture. This could be the next step for us in working life.”
Unilever, a British multinational consumer goods company, headquartered in London, previously embarked upon a test of the four-day workweek. The food and consumer-staples giant chose New Zealand as the test-case location. This study is the natural progression of experimenting with different types of work and life accommodations at the company. The employees will be compensated for a full five days, although they’re only working for four. Nick Bangs, the managing director of Unilever in New Zealand, said, “We hope the trial will result in Unilever being the first global company to embrace ways of working that provide tangible benefits for staff and for business.”
The 4 Day Week Global team is leading a multinational coalition of businesspeople, academics, researchers and authors dedicated to making the productivity-focused flexible work model a reality. The movement has already attracted a diverse group of supporters, including United for a Fair Economy, African American Ministers in Action, climate activist Bill McKibben and economist Dean Baker.
To support the campaign, here’s what the backers of the four-day workweek say about the movement:
How Employees And Workers Can Get Involved
Sign the petition at www.4dayweek.com, share the petition with your network or donate to support the transition of more businesses to a four-day workweek.
How Founders, Employers And Business Leaders Can Get Involved
Contact 4 Day Week Global to learn more about implementing the four-day workweek; sign and share the petition; make a commitment to trial and move toward a four-day workweek or donate to support the transition of more businesses to a four-day workweek
Why A Four-Day Workweek Is Better For People
A reduced-hour workweek means more family time and improved mental and physical health. An extra day for “life” means we’re more likely to rest, exercise, schedule doctor’s visits, enjoy the outdoors, start a family, play with our kids and care for our elders—without sacrificing our pay or our careers.
Leaders who move their workplace to a shorter workweek see these effects in real time: employees are more engaged, take less sick days and experience less burnout. In a 2021 Harvard Business Review global survey, 89% of respondents said that work life was getting worse, 85% reported lower levels of well-being and 62% said they had experienced burnout during the pandemic.
How It’s Better For Business
Thousands of companies are currently piloting a reduced-hour workweek—or have permanently adopted it—benefiting people from auto workers and waiters to engineers and lawyers. Employers report increased productivity, stronger talent attraction and retention and sometimes even lower overhead. A shorter workweek also gives employees time to develop new skills they can apply at work.
The Reasons Why It’s Better For Society
A society with less time “on the clock” means more time in our communities. Studies show people with four-day workweeks often spend their time volunteering with their faith-based organizations, chipping in at food banks, helping their neighbors, buying from small businesses and engaging in local issues. Four-day workplaces are also more gender-balanced. Caretakers, especially working mothers, benefit from a reduced-hour schedule and women with four-day workweeks find their workplace to be more flexible and equitable.
How It Helps The Environment
Shortening the workweek can reduce commutes and shrink our global carbon footprint. Seventeen percent of Americans drive fewer miles on the average weekend day than the average weekday. Introducing a third weekend day would reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. by 45 million metric tons—more than the total emissions of Oregon and Vermont combined. Parents also find that there’s more time to make meals, resulting in healthier food choices and less waste.
Source: Forbes
