Is the four day work week an opportunity for employers?

The Monday to Friday 40 hour work week has remained the norm since the 1950s, even Dolly Parton endorsed it in her famous song. It was only  recently that people have started to question why we continue to do this, and whether it’s the most effective and efficient way to operate as a business.

Hailed as a way to innovate this 1950s heirloom, the 4 day work has been trialed in various locations across the world. The benefits for employees are quite obvious, but is there value in this for employers and what areas must they focus on to ensure they continue to meet the bottom line?

There have been multiple trials in areas such as Iceland, Scotland and most recently Australia proving that working four days versus five is beneficial to the employee’s work/life balance. But what does it mean for employers running a small business?

Interestingly, the four day work week movement has been led by employers and many reports have been written on the topic. Results from the trials have proven overwhelmingly successful for both employees and employers.

However the key benefits for employers include:

• An improvement in the morale of the people
• Increased productivity
• No loss of revenue

Whilst this was seen as the blanket overview for the 4 day work week, there were also some potential challenges employers would need to consider if they were to trial this in their own workplace.

• Childcare – as the current child
• Monday workloads
• Maintaining high levels of productivity
• Keeping same workload
• Employee energy levels
• Communication and availability

If you’re looking for people to join your workforce and are considering flexibility options, AimBig Employment makes the recruitment process easy. Get in touch with one of our friendly job coaches today.