Imagine the feeling when it’s Thursday afternoon and you know you have not two, but three straight days off. Just a long weekend, but four times a month. More time for family, garden or just to take a deep breath. Is this possible? Does it work?
Do you like the idea of a shorter work week?
What used to sound like a utopia or the privilege of a select few has in recent years become a reality that is knocking on our doors as well. The world is beginning to understand that someone who only “switches” between work and sleep is not beneficial to anyone.
And in addition. Judging by how the drop-off points from the cities and hypermarket parking lots fill already on Friday at noon, it is quite clear that Friday is somehow shorter for many of us and already during the last working day many go to cottages and cottages, for culture or simply start the weekend in the peace and comfort of home. But it does not mean that we work less. We often work overtime on Fridays during the week. Which is actually a concept that some countries are trying.
Idea four-day work week was thus born out of a simple need. Wouldn’t it be worth it to give people back a piece of their lives without crashing the economy? Inconceivably? Just let the older generation reminisce. They well remember the working Saturdays, which gave way to the weekend as we know it today.
Bold experiments that changed the rules
It all started with big experiments. The most famous was the one on Icelandwhere the state and the city of Reykjavík shortened the working week for thousands of employees between 2015 and 2019. And the result?
It was such a success that today 86% of Icelanders have the right to a shorter week or to work 5 days a week, but one hour less each day, i.e. Icelanders work about 35 to 36 hours a week.
A similarly large test took place recently in Great Britainwhere over 60 companies participated. Here, too, the results exceeded expectations.
The concerns were huge. Employers were afraid that work would not be done, that profits would drop and that it simply wouldn’t work. But the reality surprised everyone. It turns out that when people know they have an extra day off, they tend to spend less time at the coffee machine or on social media.
The workload was more intense, but. Businesses even reported that their sales remained the same or even increased slightly.
More and more of us are experiencing burnout. Why does it occur? This post will also tell you.
Co does it work and what doesn’t?
The main assumption was that less time at work meant less burnout. And that was confirmed. This positive impact is not negligible. Employees were less sick, exercised more and were mentally well. The British report a 71% decrease in burnout, a 55% increase in the ability to work, as well as a 35% increase in average company income.
In addition, as the portal points out World Economic Forumthis model also has an unexpected ecological benefit. One day less commuting, less energy consumption in offices and productions that can be stopped for the day.
Of course, not everything is sunny. The four-day work week also has its downsides, which are already known:
- Stress from the pace: To get everything done in four days, the work pace has to be killer. Lunch breaks are getting shorter and there is no time left for friendly chats with colleagues.
- It doesn’t work everywhere: While a shorter week can be easily introduced in an office or an IT company, it is a problem in hospitals, on the factory floor or in shops. There, the work does not “wait” and the missing people have to be replaced by someone else, which costs money. The answer is to introduce another shift, but there is often a lack of knowledgeable workers in these positions.
- Social isolation: When work becomes just a quick sprint, the human touch disappears. Colleagues become more like task machines. Workplace socialization and communication thus suffered.
Are we waiting for it too?
Today it’s not just about tests anymore. Country like Belgium they have already introduced a law that gives employees the option to work their 38 hours over four days if they want.
Ve Spain or in Japan in turn, the state provides subsidies to companies to try this model. Each country goes about it a little differently, but the direction is clear. We are looking for a way to not only be a “human resource”, but a person who also has time for his hobbies and loved ones. Well-being and mental health are important for both individuals and the companies that employ them.
The British they provide companies with online lessons to prepare executives and help them adjust how companies operate to transition to a shorter work week.
With us in Czechia it is still being debated rather cautiously, but some companies have already switched to this mode or the possibility of flexible or otherwise adjusted shifts themselves. Maybe in a few years, the five-day work week will be as obsolete as working on Saturday is for us today.
The five-day working week was officially introduced in our country on September 29, 1968. But in some countries of Western Europe, the rules were already changing ten years earlier. The delay is more or less normal, but the changes are unstoppable.
