Are You Not So Lucky To Have A 4-Day Work Week? Here’s Why That Could Be A Blessing In Disguise

Much has been made about the 4-day work week lately, although it’s not as revolutionary a concept as it may seem. Because, although in the UK thousands of people have been trialing a 4-day week for the first time this year and have reported great success with it, did you know that former US President Richard Nixon, in 1956, promised a 4-day work week “in the not too distant future”?

 We’ve been hearing more and more about the idea over the past couple years, especially as the pandemic forced more companies to embrace flexibility, hybrid working, and generally giving the worker more power..

 After all, what’s not to like? A whole extra day off, every week, without losing any extra pay? What’s the catch?!

 …well…

 CONTACT US

The truth about the 4-day work week

Bad bosses

For every good boss out there, there’s a bad boss. A good boss will recognise that you simply cannot get more done in 4 days than you used to get done in 5 days, but a bad boss may resent having to pay you for that fifth day in which you’re sleeping and Netflixing, and that boss may want you to really earn that fifth day’s pay, and expect you to achieve the impossible within 4 days.

 You may be expected to somehow make up those extra 8 hours by working an hour longer every day, and losing your lunch break.

 Losing that Friday feeling

Some people are very used to the buzz they get as Friday afternoon draws to a close. They may enjoy the ritual of counting down that last hour and then heading to the pub for a drink with their colleagues to round off the week. You could always do this on a Thursday, but “that Thursday feeling” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?!

 Inefficiency

Those of us who are used to staring at a screen for 8 hours a day may think 10 hours doesn’t sound much different, but actually, as the days goes on, we become more and more ineffective. Many bosses know that, unofficially, the last hour of the day is a write-off already, so increasing the working day to ten hours may be a triple-whammy in lost pay per hour.

It’s just not healthy

Even if you work in the cleanest, airiest office, stuffed full of living plants and free fruit, sitting at a computer for ten hours just probably isn’t that good for you. You may end up dealing with eye strain, tension headaches, shoulder pain, and more. The old advice to take frequent breaks from the screen just conveniently gets forgotten when it needs to be…

So, you may not be in one of those few companies who are currently trialing the 4-day work week, but fear not – you may turn out to be one of the lucky ones in the end.

Contact Headway for recruitment advice today to help you fill out your team going into the new year!