The weekend is a relatively new invention, brought about by religion – Saturday for the Jewish Sabbath and Sunday as a holy day for Christians. In 1908, a mill in New England in the US was the first recorded workplace to introduce the five-day working week. Other factories soon followed and the Great Depression cemented the practice to help combat underemployment.
Fast forward more than 100 years and concerns about work-life balance and maximising productivity are encouraging a growing number of companies to explore an even shorter working week. Emerging research shows the four-day working week is associated with less stressed, more empowered worker bees who are, crucially, just as productive as when they work five days a week.
Imagine a world where every weekend is a long weekend or every Wednesday is the day you do yoga, go out for brunch, or spend time with your family – and you’re paid your usual full-time salary. Dr Jane Menzies from Deakin Business School says it could be the future of work.
‘Working longer hours doesn’t necessarily equal greater productivity, a there is a small but growing number of companies starting to recognise this and introduce a four-day working week,’ she says.
Introducing a four-day working week
New Zealand financial services business, Perpetual Guardian, successfully ran a trial in 2018 where it gave its 240 employees the option to work four days a week while still earning their regular full-time salary.
It’s an idea that’s slowly catching on around the world. In Japan – where long working hours are the norm – Microsoft launched a four day working week trial. Globel behemoth Unilever, American burger joint Shake Shack and the Spanish government, which has agreed to launch a pilot project for companies interested in the idea, are just a handful of the big players experimenting with a four-day working week at five-day a week salaries.
In Australia, digital agency Versa, behavioural science consultancy Inventium, financial services firm Collins SBA and design and development company Icelab are some of the forward-thinking organisations that have implemented a four day working week.
‘The idea that you can do the same amount of work in less time is something a lot of companies have changed their perspectives on,’ says Dr Menzies, who works a four-day week herself.
