Changing the Way We Work
Throughout the US, a traditional nine-to-five job is nothing out of the ordinary. For years we have been expected to put in our 40 hours in order to work a full week, or even more hours to be considered a "hard worker".
This sentiment is rapidly shifting, however, with countries like Spain, Belgium, and even the UK experimenting or even fully implementing a four-day work week. For those unaware, a four-day work week seems impossible. How could any company be willing to pay people the same amount of money for less work? Though the shift appears daunting, this new culture could be coming sooner than you think.
Andrew Barnes runs the company Perpetual Guardian, an estate planning firm that assists those with writing wills, trusts, and more. After reading a magazine on productivity, Barnes found that "the average British worker…was only engaged with their job for less than three hours a day". If this data was true, then both the employer and employee were losing out, with the business not gaining much productivity out of the worker, and the worker is forced to stay and not spend time with family.
““It wasn’t a monstrous failure... The work got done, clients were happy, staff were happy. They [all] loved it. Who wouldn’t?””
Barnes decided to test out the possibility of a four-day work week, one of the first of its kind. He gave the experiment two months, and if a measurable increase in productivity was found, the change would become permanent. Workers were thrilled, a chance to not only spend more time with family but also get paid the same amount for less work. The company was surprised too, with the research collected after the two-month experiment showing that levels of engagement and teamwork over the period grew by 30-40%, along with stress levels coming down by 15%.
These tests are going on all across the world, with the UK recently announcing one of the largest pushes for a four-day work week. 3,000 firms are currently participating in trials with results expecting to shift the dynamic for work across the entire country.
With the possibility of change on the horizon, we are forced to wonder if we will see people finally slow down, and reallocate their time back to those who matter most.
Hari, J. (2022). Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again. Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.