The Future (Shorter) Workweek 📆
The four-day workweek is upon us
In a couple weeks, the United States will celebrate its Independence Day with a three-day weekend. Since July 4th is on a Monday this year, it means workers will have Saturday, Sunday and Monday off of work. Three-day weekends are considered exceptionally enjoyable by workers because it’s more restful and fun to have three days off in a row than a random day off in the middle of the week.
What if three-day weekends were the norm, not just for holidays?
The trend seems to be that a four-day workweek, with three-day weekends, will the norm in the near future. The UK just started the world’s largest four-day workweek experiment. While other countries have tried this work model before, no country has tried it out with so many people.
According to CNN, the pilot will run for 6 months and “involves 3,300 workers spanning 70 companies, ranging from providers of financial services to a fish-and-chip restaurant. During the program, workers receive 100% of their pay for working only 80% of their usual week, in exchange for promising to maintain 100% of their productivity.”
So why are these companies choosing to try out the four-day workweek? Per one employer participating in the experiment, "The pandemic [has] made us think a great deal about work and how people organize their lives. We're doing this to improve the lives of our staff and be part of a progressive change in the world."
It’s exciting to see employers embracing this conscious leadership perspective, that by implementing new ways of working, they can be part of significant progressive change in the world.
It’s not just four-day workweeks that are coming, remote work is still picking up speed post-pandemic. Vox just published an article about why the return to work isn’t working:
“[I]t’s important to remember that going to the office never really worked for everyone, it was just what everyone did. Now, two years after the pandemic sent office workers to their living rooms, their employers may have a chance to make more people happy than before.”
It’s true, so much of how we structure our work and our lives is based on theories and beliefs that no longer serve us. Doing something because “this is the way it’s always been done” doesn’t justify continuing the practice when circumstances change and new opportunities arise.
In the future of work, how many days and hours you work may be based on the kind of job you do. Whether it’s a four-day workweek or remote work, some roles require more in-person collaboration than others. As Vox notes: “How much someone needs to come into the office might also vary by team or job type.”
For example, a nurse would need to be at the hospital to do most of her job. But a coder could come in twice a month for planning meetings. A marketing team may need to be together more often because of the chemistry of in-person creativity. But the finance director could manage the company’s budget from anywhere. This will impact the kinds of careers people pursue based on their life goals.
Employers are realizing that flexibility is no longer a perk for the workforce, it’s an expectation. Because flexibility means people get to integrate work into their life as opposed to forming their life around work.
Thus far, the research and experiments are showing that workers who participate in a four-day workweek and remote work are just as productive and there’s an increase in employee well-being.
Moving forward, employee well-being will be one of the biggest priorities for companies that want to stay competitive and create conscious cultures. It’s an evolution in the way we work and it’s exciting to see the many studies showing that new ways of working will help all of us work better while consciously increasing our well-being.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
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