What Would a 4-Day Workweek Mean for Working Parents?
What Would a 4-Day Workweek Mean for Parents?
Following the pandemic, the workplace shifted drastically as companies scrambled to adopt full-on remote operations successfully. Working from home wasn’t an entirely new concept, but it was one that we pressed fast forward on when the workforce needed to adapt immediately. With that shift, the job market turned into a place where employees had the upper hand.
Working from home is no longer a unique benefit that companies offer. Instead, it’s now as common as PTO. So, what is the new benefit that helps a company attract high-quality talent compared to its competitors?
The 4-day workweek.
Again, not a brand-new concept but one fewer organizations have implemented. However, news about the recent study regarding the 4-day workweek has the workplace talking and companies weighing their options.
In the UK study, companies that participated were told to “meaningfully” shorten the workweek for their employees. This was done by giving them one day off a week, averaging 32 hours a week over the year. All while employees still made the same amount of money they did during a 40-hour workweek.
Now, think of your life as a parent. Regardless of your parenting season, we all deal with the fact that we wish we had more time.
Wish, granted.
Imagine working one less day and not upping your total hours or decreasing the amount you make. You instantly increase your availability by 20%. Whether that’s filled with PTA meetings, chauffeuring your children to and from soccer practices, helping your youngest with their math homework, or even just spending quiet one-on-one time with your child or significant other, it makes life very different and balanced too.
According to the study:
71% of employees in the trial reported feeling less burned out.
39% of employees in the trial reported feeling less stressed.
48% of employees in the trial reported feeling more satisfied with their job.
60% of employees in the trial reported that it was easier to balance work and life responsibilities.
73% of employees in the trial reported increased overall satisfaction.
And even more powerful than that is that 15% of employees in the trial said that “no amount of money” would convince them to go back to working 5 days a week.
So, is the 4-day workweek the new “unique benefit” that companies can offer high-quality job candidates as a point of difference?
If so, the benefit might fall on the employer's side just as much as the employee, considering that, in the trial, the shortened workweek didn’t negatively impact revenue. In fact, according to the study, revenue grew 1.4% over the course of the trial for 23 companies, while 24 different companies saw their revenue increase more than 34% from the same six-month period year-over-year.
Does this mean the 4-day workweek will follow the same path as remote work? In a few years, will the 4-day workweek be embraced like the work-from-home schedule?
Only time (and probably a few 3-day weekends) will tell.