Great news for fans of the three-day weekend: ongoing experiments in multiple countries have found that switching to a four-day work week is a more effective and efficient way to do business.
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is the director of 4 Day Week Global, which sponsors the experiment. He told KNX News’ Charles Feldman that the positive results held up after 12 months, signaling long-term changes in worker efficiency.
“The number of hours that companies are working is actually declining over [the past] six months. Also, work intensity is also dropping a little bit,” he said. “So this isn’t just about trying to cram more work into less time, but rather really redesigning work so that people can be more effective.”
There were also continued improvements in workers’ physical and mental health.
The experiment involved thousands of employees at a range of companies in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Over the course of the year-long trial, the average number of hours worked per week dropped from 38 hours to 32.97.
Kickstarter, one of the companies involved in the trial, reported a dramatic improvement in their ability to meet “objectives and key results” every quarter, along with an increase in employee retention and engagement.
While many bosses are still skeptical about whether a four-day week could work for them, Pang says the growing number of successful case studies should put those worries to rest.
“We’ve got a growing body of evidence that shows this is something that works in all kinds of industries,” Pang said. “It’s not just professional services or quote-unquote ‘creatives’ who can do it, but it’s also manufacturing, nursing homes. There’s actually a police department in Colorado that’s trialing four-day weeks for both sworn officers and regular staff.”
Pang does admit there are some companies where four-day weeks really aren’t feasible: for example, his own. Because of 4 Day Week Global’s international clients, he works a few hours five or six days a week.
“One of the things about the four-day week is that companies do it all kinds of different ways depending upon your market,” he said. “I’m definitely working fewer hours per week than I did in the past, but … I have to sort of distribute them a little bit differently.”
The full results of 4 Day Week’s pilot program are available on the organization’s website.
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