4-Day Workweek / Employees Love It, But Businesses ?

Business owners, do your employees work a four-day workweek? If you answered no, you’re not alone.

The business world has evolved in many ways over the past few decades (for proof, just watch any episode of Mad Men), but one tenet of common corporate practice has held true: most workers still punch their digital time cards at 9 and 5, for five straight days.

Is the traditional five-day workweek the best choice for your recruiting efforts, your employee retention goals, your budget, or your day-to-day productivity? More and more business owners are arguing that it’s not.

Instead, they’re breaking the mold and offering employees the option of working four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. In some cases, they’re even mandating it.

The rise of the four-day workweek

In 2009, Utah became the first state to institute an official four-day workweek for all state employees. The change was made largely in an effort to cut costs – on commuting and on utilities like electricity, heating and water. After a year, a financial analysis proved that switching to a four-day workweek substantially reduced costs, both for the state and its employees.

According to Time magazine, “The state found that its compressed workweek resulted in a 13 percent reduction in energy use and estimated that employees saved as much as $6 million in gasoline costs. Altogether, the initiative will cut the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 12,000 metric tons a year.”

That’s no small change. After Utah went public with the results, many employers began implementing a four-day workweek in the hopes of achieving similar results. In addition to the cost savings, the four-day workweek brings with it a handful of other business benefits. For example, a 10-hour workday means the business will stay open longer, making it accessible to clients and customers who work a traditional eight-hour day…

Choosen excerpts by JMM from

via Employees Love It, But Does a 4-Day Workweek Work For Your Business?.