The push for a four-day workweek gained world momentum this month, as South Korea, Japan, and the UK (UK) joined the rising roster of nations piloting the increasing motion, whose proponents promise would enhance “work-life steadiness and productiveness.”
In South Korea, staff throughout 50 firms in Gyeonggi Province can have the selection to both go for a four-day workweek each two weeks or shortened hours every week. Japan, a rustic, the place overwork kills at the very least 50 folks annually, is pushing for a shorter workweek to enhance work tradition and face a urgent labor scarcity. Over in Europe, the UK’s new labor authorities is proposing a plan that might enable staff to request a four-day working week.
These three nations are simply the newest in a protracted checklist that has been leaning extra towards the thought, for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the standard workweek, pushing hundreds of thousands to undertake distant work.
The newfound flexibility led many to query the nine-to-five, five-day workweek that has dominated the worldwide economic system for many years. Employers and workers have been free to discover new potentialities, comparable to a shorter workweek, and assess whether or not it may supply extra advantages to the work-life steadiness of staff all over the world.
A number of nations have already embraced the brand new work scheme.
Belgium grew to become the primary in Europe to go laws permitting workers to work 4 days as an alternative of 5, with none docking of pay. The laws additionally gave staff the flexibleness to decide on their schedules. Germany and Portugal have each adopted swimsuit, kicking off trial packages to check the affect of a shorter workweek. Within the UK, previous to the federal government’s newest announcement, firms that took half in a pilot program plan to make the four-day week everlasting, having seen enhancements in productiveness, employee well-being, and optimistic results on the surroundings and gender equality.
In Egypt, the place work-life steadiness and psychological well being stay neglected matters, as an alternative of lowering hours, the federal government is contemplating extending them as a part of its efforts to revamp the work surroundings in keeping with world adjustments and enhance the standard of presidency efficiency.
The Industrial Improvement Authority (IDA) introduced in July an extension of the workweek, now operating from Saturday to Thursday, as an alternative of the earlier five-day schedule from Sunday to Thursday.
Apart from this one instance, the vast majority of the nation adheres to the five-day workweek.
Because the world strikes towards a future more and more influenced by automation, AI, and fast technological developments, adopting a four-day workweek could possibly be a proactive technique for thriving on this evolving panorama.
In Spain, for instance, a brand new non permanent workweek association impacted roughly 360,000 workers, who utilized the additional free time for actions like sports activities, leisure, and meal preparation. In line with an impartial fee of well being and science specialists assessing this system’s results, members reported improved self-perceived well being, lowered stress ranges, elevated power, and larger total happiness and private satisfaction.
Equally, quite a few research have proven that giving staff an additional day without work every week can improve productiveness, enhance bodily and psychological well being, and even cut back CO2 emissions.
“A four-day work week can be good for me,” Nour Waleed, a 24-year-old marketer and a powerful advocate for the motion, tells Egyptian Streets in an interview. “It might enhance my productiveness as a result of I’d have extra time to loosen up, so I’d come again to work refreshed and motivated.”
She additionally notes the necessity for private time, including that “folks want time for a social life. It helps them keep productive and higher deal with the intense and generally demanding elements of life, like work.”
Ahmed Samak, a 48-year-old regional non-public banking supervisor, shares Waleed’s views and provides {that a} four-day workweek can be “higher for motivating workers.”
Echoing the sentiment for a extra balanced workweek, Jason Shannon, 23, an account supervisor at Engineerex, attracts a comparability to his college days.
“I really feel like a four-day workweek can be so a lot better. At college, we had Tuesdays off together with the weekend, and it labored nicely,” he says. “The break within the center made the week really feel a lot much less overwhelming, and I may focus and get issues carried out on all 4 days. However with the standard five-day construction, I find yourself feeling burned out by Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Nonetheless, whereas the shift did supply vital advantages based on the present literature, it might solely swimsuit some enterprise fashions, particularly these requiring steady operations or client-facing roles. A four-day workweek may also lead to extra prices, longer hours, and faltering buyer satisfaction.
Mohannad Saleh, 24, an entrepreneur, agrees, noting that whereas a shorter workweek may present extra private time, it may additionally improve strain to finish duties.
“It sounds nice, however there may be extra stress making an attempt to suit all the things into fewer days,” he says.
Whereas a four-day workweek may carry some advantages, Gallup analysis means that different elements, like job nature and development alternatives, have a larger affect on worker satisfaction.
A 2022 Gallup survey discovered that the well-being of workers working 4 days per week didn’t considerably differ from these on a regular five-day schedule. Mariem Beshay, 28, product designer at El Gallad agrees with this sentiment.
“I’m involved {that a} shorter work week may result in longer each day hours. Provided that we work with exterior elements like factories, the place a four-day work week might not match manufacturing schedules, a hybrid mannequin with two days within the workplace and three days working from dwelling, together with barely shorter workdays, appears extra lifelike,” she suggests.
