4-Day Work Week Debate

November 2, 2021

00:00:00

4-Day Work Week Debate

Be it resolved, it’s time to embrace a 4-day work week.

COVID-19 presented a monumental shift in the way people work. Home offices replaced commutes and cubicles, ZOOM calls took over from conference rooms, and communication went from in person to over Slack. Some people believe now is the time to re-think other conventional work practices as well, specifically the five-day work week. Companies that have experimented with fewer workday hours showed an increase in productivity, better employee retention, higher recruitment of skilled workers, and overall happier staff. Shorter weeks, proponents of the 4-day work week argue, also promote gender equality by allowing mothers and caretakers more flexible hours to do their work. Companies do better when their staff are happier, rested, and live more balanced lifestyles.

Others argue that trimming the work week without affecting the bottom line is a fantasy. Companies would require extraordinary gains in productivity to make up for lost hours, and access to services would decline. Certain public service professionals, like doctors or teachers, simply cannot do more work in less time, thereby requiring the government to hire more workers at great cost to the taxpayer. And finally, many hourly wage workers depend on the five-day work week to make ends meet. Awarding a long weekend to the laptop class while requiring everyone else to work 40 hours will deepen divisions in the labour market and exacerbate already existing inequalities.

“A 4-day work week is good for business, it’s good for our people, it’s good for our countries, and it’s good for our planet.”

– ANDREW BARNES

“The idea that almost everybody could expect to work four days rather than five and still get the same pay they did before is unrealistic”

– JULIAN JESSOP