More and more people are starting to think that the 4-day work week is a good idea. And it's not just wishful thinking. No sir, actually. The tests conducted in Iceland, UK (where he has shown he can also reduce emissions), Belgium, Spain, UAE, USA and elsewhere they have demonstrated it very clearly: employees who work only four days a week are happier and more productive than others. Do we take this seriously or not?
I'll list at least 4 reasons (one for each day of this ideal, future working week) for which it is not only preferable, but necessary to assume such an arrangement. And it is not only for the workers, but for the companies themselves.
Increase productivity and decrease burnout.
All the tests carried out demonstrate, as mentioned, that you are more productive when you work less. And this should already answer 50% of the doubts about the economic costs of a four-day working week. Let's face it: today most people work five days a week precisely because Henry Ford, nearly 100 years ago, he switched from a six-day workweek to a five-day one, and found improvements in the morale and productivity of his employees.
On the other hand, science has already shown that keeping to 5 days of work has a cost, and is unsustainable. The data from the ILO (International Labor Organization) and WHO bring with them a ruthless message: work as it exists today is literally killing us. The boom in mental crises, the explosion of chronic diseases and mass resignations are all sides of the same dice: too many hours of work.
The 4-day workweek gives employees the edge they want most.
No period like Covid has given rise to so many debates on hybrid and remote working: millions of feedback have made us understand that there is a lowest common denominator if we talk about work flexibility. Employees in every area of the planet don't necessarily focus on where they can work: the most important thing for everyone (the Wall Street Journal also surveyed us) is the freedom to decide when and how much to work.
A 4-day workweek might not even mean working four days and taking three days off. Most people really want the ability to choose some or all of their working hours (this has emerged glaringly in tests in the UK, for example). Why? To best adapt it to your lives, work preferences and family duties. For those caring for children or other family members, especially, this flexibility is more than a pleasure: it is perhaps the only chance they have to stay (and make an impact) in the world of work.
For this reason, keeping in mind the scheme of a 4-day working week, experts suggest redesigning work. Not simply from Monday to Thursday instead of Friday, but as the equivalent of four working days: 32 hours of work per week. Obviously, as is the case now, there will be someone who will choose to work even harder. But that needs to be regulated.
It's better for traffic and the environment.
There is a Buddhist saying that I always love to quote: “When the student is ready, the teacher presents himself”. There was no need for Eric Yuan and Zoom. Years before this platform was born, the main metropolitan areas afflicted by crazy traffic almost seemed to tell us so. We were stuck in the subway, or stopped at traffic lights, and we almost heard an internal voice: "what am I doing here". Smart leaders even then encouraged employees to work at home one day a week, to alleviate traffic and pollution.
We should also talk more about it in terms of the climate agenda. A shorter working week will not only ease rush hour traffic, but will also have positive consequences for the planet as a whole. There is excellent research showing that if we work less, don't travel as much and make smarter consumer choices (because we have more time to make them) everything works better.
The 4-day work week allows for more creativity and thoughtful work.
Here I want to confess something to you: when I've done gratifying and exciting things, I've earned without ever working. I am a creative, and a journalist. Let me write or campaign, and I never get tired of it. But I get distracted: for this reason, in my best years, people were surprised to know that I was awake even at night to finish a project.
At night, simply, no one called me. No colleague came to me with a question, no client wanted “urgent” meetings about sometimes silly problems.
To focus. For creative (or research) professions, a four-day work week would spark enormously better results. Because we always put our life into the most beautiful things, and if we don't have enough time to live, this is also reflected in our work.
A four-day week won't solve our existential problems, of course. But as a first step, believe me, it looks great to me.
