How shortening the week may change workplace life

The idea of ​​a four-day or shorter work week is gaining traction around the world – a big thank you to the boom in remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A recent study by 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit group that has piloted four-day week programs in several countries, found that employees were satisfied with their overall productivity and performance.

“The idea of ​​reducing hours worked has been around for a while,” said Charlotte Lockhart, Founder and CEO of 4 Day Week Global. “However, it is real now. We have thousands of companies around the world that are actually cutting hours in one way or another.”

However, shortening the work week to four days is not suitable for every company. Alter Agents, a Los Angeles-based market research firm, found it didn’t sit well with its employees.

“What happened after 10 weeks was that our most valuable metrics, employee health and mental health, had declined in our [before and after] survey,” said Rebecca Brooks, CEO at Alter Agents. “There are many reasons for this, but ultimately the goal was to make life easier for our employees, and we made it more complicated.”

You can find out whether the 4-day week is the working life of the future in the video above.