Shorter work week for work-life balance, profit

PETALING JAYA: The four-day work week has been implemented in several countries in Europe namely, Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Sweden, Germany as well as Japan and New Zealand.

The latest to join the bandwagon is the United Kingdom, which began trials this month – said to be the largest pilot programme to date.

The project involved some 3,300 employees in 70 companies operating from Monday to Thursday with no pay cuts.

The rationale behind this implementation has to do with the benefits in cost-cutting, and increasing productivity and work-life balance.

People who work or even go to school a day less will have more time to pursue hobbies, spend quality time with their families, and have more time for sleep, which in turn, will boost morale.

In 2019, tech giant Microsoft experimented on a four-day work week in Japan. The results: productivity and work efficiency received a boost by 40%.

In Sweden where the four-day work week had a head start in 2015, results were mixed as not many people were pleased with the idea.

From 2015-2019, Iceland too carried out a large-scale pilot project involving some 2,500 workers. They took on 35 to 36 hours of work a week without a pay cut.

The programme was deemed successful as Icelandic trade unions negotiated for a reduction in working hours.

Belgium’s implementation of the four-day work week saw working hours compressed into fewer days in the month of February.

Employees were able to decide if they wanted to work four or five days a week.

A company in New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian, carried out a study on the four-day work week. It found that employees’ productivity levels were not only sustained but saw an improved level of job satisfaction, teamwork, work-life balance, and company loyalty.