Waikato engineering consultancy firm BCD Group has embraced a four-day workweek for its employees, while Vodafone recently said its workers will be able to leave early Fridays during the summer. For BCD Group, the change has been a big morale booster for workers.
"[They can] recharge their batteries, go away and have that day off, come back and really focus in on what they need to get through on any given day," says Blair Currie, BCD Group managing director.
The shorter summer schedule from Vodafone “allows all of our people to go home early on a Friday at 2 p.m. through till the end of February, in order to do the things that are important to them," says Katie Williams, Vodafone’s acting human resources director.
Prior to BCD Group and Vodafone, Perpetual Guardian, a trusts and investment advisory firm, had made a permanent switch to a four-day workweek after productivity shot up in an eight-week trial run.