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Trend Watch: The Four-Day Work Week WORKS!
The pandemic unleashed a seismic shake-up of the traditional work week, leading to a previously unthinkable acceptance of remote and hybrid work. And while this new flexible workplace has many benefits, it isn’t the automatic fix for stress and burnout.
Prompted by the widespread reevaluation of work/life balance, a cohort of companies around the globe -- across marketing, finance, health care, retail, hospitality, and more -- took part in a trial of a four-day work week to see if employees could be just as productive in 80% of the time while getting paid 100% of their five days a week salary.
The overwhelmingly positive results were just released by the non-profit organization “4 Day Work Week Global” which oversaw the six-month study of 33 businesses and nearly 10,000 workers – announcing that participating companies reported increased revenue and improved employee health and well-being.
Productivity was either maintained or increased (and in some cases, “significantly increased”), and the staff was more focused and dedicated – finding ways to work more efficiently and collaborate more effectively. In a remarkable show of success, none of the companies plan to go back to five days, and, not surprisingly, 97% of the workers want to stay with the four-day workweek model.
Giving employees more time off the clock to spend with their families, explore new hobbies, and do whatever their best version of “off time” was, resulted in them being more energized, productive, and committed when they were on the clock. Let’s hope these results and the soon-to-be-released results of additional trials will make the four-day work week the new norm.
Sources: CNN & Business Insider
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