{"id":79362,"date":"2022-09-21T14:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=79362"},"modified":"2022-09-23T13:37:34","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T17:37:34","slug":"shorter-workweek-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/shorter-workweek-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorter Workweek Benefits and Drawbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the benefits of a shorter workweek<\/a>? Why are there also drawbacks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The push to reduce work schedules gathered momentum during the pandemic, which forced employers to become more flexible about working arrangements and led many workers to reflect on unhealthy work cultures<\/a>. However, workers and businesses are still trying to evaluate the viability of a shorter workweek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for an overview of shorter workweek benefits as well as the drawbacks to reducing working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Shorter Workweeks Are Being Used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When implementing a shorter workweek, the benefits and drawbacks can be difficult to disentangle, as a benefit to one party often comes at a cost to another<\/strong>. The pros and cons also depend on the type of shorter workweek and how it\u2019s implemented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, four-day workweeks have been piloted at a range of private companies and even by a few state and national governments. But it can be difficult to compare these pilots<\/strong> because they\u2019ve all been implemented in slightly different ways. The main differences are in the type<\/em> of four-day week and in the strategies<\/em> used to squeeze a workweek into four days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two broad types of four-day workweek<\/a>:<\/strong> the compressed schedule and the reduced schedule<\/strong>. People on a compressed schedule work the same 40 hours per week, but in four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. Examples of compressed schedules include Shake Shack\u2019s 2021 trial for managers<\/a> and the Utah state government\u2019s year-long pilot<\/a>, which began in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People on a reduced schedule<\/strong> work fewer hours with no reduction in pay. This might amount to a 4.5-day week, as with the United Arab Emirates government<\/a>, or it might be an even shorter 32-hour week<\/strong> (four eight-hour days). Examples of 32-hour week pilots include software company Wildbit, which implemented a four-day week in 2017<\/a>, and the UK national trial<\/a> that\u2019s currently in progress. In the UK model, participating employees make a commitment<\/a> to follow the 100:80:100 model<\/a> (100% of the salary for 80% of the time while maintaining 100% of the productivity of a five-day week). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even within these broad categories, there\u2019s a lot of variation in how people make them work.<\/strong> For example, the <\/strong>time-saving strategies <\/strong>of workers on reduced schedules might include reducing lunch hours<\/a>, automating repetitive tasks<\/a>, capping meeting length and attendance<\/a>, designating meeting-free days<\/a>, and setting aside dedicated quiet time<\/a> for deep work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll look at the shorter workweek benefits and drawbacks separately for workers and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits & Drawbacks for Workers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We usually think of workers as the main potential beneficiaries of a shorter workweek. But what do we actually know about how four-day working weeks affect workers? Here are the pros and cons we know about so far:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of a Shorter Workweek<\/h4>\n\n\n\n