Is a 4 Day Work Week in Your Future?

With the dramatic shift to working remotely (or virtually, or from home, or tele-commuting or anything else you’d like to call it) thanks to our friendly neighborhood pandemic, employers across the country are beginning to see the value in a non-traditional work arrangement. As author Clio Chang notes, “The pandemic has forced into the open certain fallacies about the way work life is structured. Companies that previously required their employees to come into the office have now revealed how easy it is to let them work from home ― freeing them from extended commutes, often by car, in climate-harming rush-hour traffic.”

Simply put, many employers are now actually realizing that their employees CAN work from home and still be production. By the same token, many employees are now realizing that working from home is not a glorified day off and, while you still may be in your pajamas as you perform the duties of your job, you are —indeed — actually performing the duties of your job.

Is a 4 day (32 hour) work week next? Chang says yes…

While noting that many other countries have begun to look at this concept (including France, where “full time” is not a 40 hour week, it’s 35 hours), Chang states that “Working smarter, not longer, appeals to everyone from overworked professionals to parents trying to carve out more time for their children. Add the overwhelming anxieties and compounding responsibilities we’re now all experiencing as the coronavirus upends our lives, and the case for a four-day workweek is stronger than ever.

“Many experts point out that working less doesn’t necessarily lead to less productivity. Microsoft, for example, tested a four-day workweek last August in Japan, and the results showed not only happier employees but also a 40% increase in productivity.”

Even locally, the city of Strongsville switched over,. albeit due to tax collection issues.

As an employer, if you could increase the productivity and effectiveness of your employees and pay them less, wouldn’t that be something you’d consider?

To read Chang’s complete article, click here.