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Four-Day Workweek Gains Momentum

The four-day workweek is an old idea that has gained some recent momentum, but not everyone is sold on the concept.

One company in New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian, is considering making a six-week trial of the shorter workweek schedule a permanent fixture, Fortune reports.

Perpetual Guardian notes that its trial showed a boost in employee productivity, improved work-life balance and lowered stress. The firm, which provides wills, trusts, and estate planning services, paid its employees for five days of work during the trial.

"An enduring theme across all groups is that the individuals had more time to accomplish tasks in their personal lives that are often 'crammed in,' 'put off,' or 'rushed between,' in the business of a 5-day work schedule," says Helen Delaney, of the University of Auckland Business School. She is also a researcher for a study on the pilot.

"Many reported a satisfaction with accomplishing these personal tasks, and this feeling spilled over to the workplace as an overarching feeling of motivation and productivity," she notes. More than 240 workers participating in the pilot experienced a 7% drop in stress levels, a 24% bump in work-life balance and a 20% jump in team interaction on average.

But interest in a four-day workweek is not limited to New Zealand and has piqued the interest of companies trying to come up with ways to attract more recruits and increase productivity, CNBC reports.

"Savvy employers are catching on to the fact that employees are increasingly demanding better work-life balance and the opportunity to get work done at non-traditional places and times," says Jim Link, chief human resources officer (North America) at global recruitment agency Randstad. "The four-day workweek is a perfect example of that."

A New York-based computer software firm started by three former Google employees in 2015 took its own approach on a shortened work schedule with its "Free Fridays," according to the CNBC report. Lindsay Grenawalt, head of people at Cockroach Labs, says the idea is for employees to "take back control" and decide how they want to use that day, whether for studying, working on long-term projects or with family.

"It's very contrary to what American culture is, but I think if we're going to hold onto talent we have to get creative about how you're going to hire and retain talent," Grenawalt says.

Some concerns over a shorter workweek include lower wages or tension in professions that may have a harder time moving away from the traditional five-day workweek, such as manufacturing or medical careers.

"The challenge is making sure productivity doesn't slip and that employees remain accountable to their bosses, customers, etc.," Link says. "As with any flexible work arrangement, misunderstandings are best avoided through regular, clear communication. Being upfront about expectations for employees with a four-day workweek--for example, is someone still 'on call' to respond to customer inquiries?--goes a long way toward keeping everything running smoothly."

Grenawalt offers some suggestions in making a four-day work week workable. First is to make sure your hiring process is top notch so you bring aboard employees who are productive and want to be at work.

Consolidating meetings and cutting down on distractions also are important to achieving a shortened workweek. For the latter, Grenawalt's company supplies employees with noise cancelling headphones and has red and green LED lights at each desk that notifies everyone passing by whether it is OK to interrupt.

Job search site, FlexJobs, came up with a list of the top 10 careers and top 40 companies for flexible jobs in the last year. The firm analyzed more than 50,000 companies, paying particular attention to flexible job posting histories in its database from July 31, 2017 to July 31, 2018. It defines a flexible job as one that allows for telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, or freelance.

The top 10 careers cited as best suited for flexible jobs this year are: sales; computer and IT; medical and health; customer service; education and training; account/project management; administrative; accounting and finance; marketing; and HR and recruiting. The top three companies listed are: UnitedHealth Group, Pearson and SAP.

"We have seen and expect to [continue] seeing the flexible job marketplace diversify, as companies across all sizes and industries recognize it as a top perk for employees, as well as the bottom-line benefits for them," says Sara Sutton, FlexJobs founder and CEO.

A Colorado school district with 18,000 children became the latest of 98 districts in the state to move to a four-day workweek, but less to do with work-life balance and more to do with saving money, NPR reports. By closing on Mondays and extending the remaining four days by 40 minutes each, the school expects to save about $1 million on busing, teacher salaries and utilities.

"I realize this will be a significant change for our students, their families, and the communities we are so fortunate to serve, but our district can no longer be expected to do more with less financial resources," district officials announced in a press release.

One company that had tried a shorter workweek ended up quickly reversing course, GrowthLab reports. Ryan Carson, founder and CEO of programming-education company, Treehouse, in 2015 said that he would give his 87-employees a four-day workweek.

The firm had adopted a 32-hour workweek, but the following year went back to 40 hours a week. Carson himself sticks to a 65-hour a week work schedule.

"It created this lack of work ethic in me that was fundamentally detrimental to the business and to our mission," Carson says. "It actually was a terrible thing."

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