Do you ever feel like you never have enough time for anything? Working takes up a big portion of our life and other tasks such as chores and sleep that it leaves little time for us to relax or pursue hobbies. With several countries testing out the 4-day work week, it leaves the question whether America should make the transition too. We tend to be a bit behind in implementing ideas such as this early on and I do not see this happening any time soon across America due to our little friend capitalism. However, the pandemic completely changed the world overnight and many jobs went remote. Before the work culture was not as open to people working completely remote but the pandemic allowed it to be normalized with zoom meetings and such.
Iceland is one of the first countries to try and implement the 32-hour work week with about 85% of workers transitioning from 5 to 4 days. To many people's surprise, studies showed that productivity actually went up as well as people's well-being. Other countries such as Sweden and Japan are having similar pilot programs to see if it is worth it.
Of course, there is a huge population difference between Iceland (350,000) and America (330 million) so it is not as simple to transition in America. Also not all jobs would be able to do this, but majority of the typical 5 day work jobs could potentially benefit from this. There is also much debate on whether it actually increases productivity because the amount of hours worked would be less. Though this sounds counterintuitive, when people have more leisure time, they are more likely to make the shorter hours count which leads to more productivity.
Many businesses also disagree with the potential change because of the fear of not making as much profit. Though I understand the sentiment, it's time to start putting workers first over products. We are so filled with consumerism and the spirit of capitalism that we can lose sight of what being a human is all about. I implore you all to think about what benefits could come from your extra day off. You could visit family, go to the beach, catch up on a movie, or do nothing! Though it may not be for everyone, I think many people may agree that life is not about working, but rather working to make a living.
Hey Gabby,
ReplyDeleteLove the post. The first few sentences I was like "PREACH GIRL" in my head haha. I really believe having a 4 day work week would be beneficial to everyone involved for multiple reasons. When you are working 40 hour weeks, work is daunting, it feels like you must give the majority of your life force to a company that likely views you as expendable, seeking to maximize what they can get out of you. I know some coworkers where this has the opposite effect (I have been guilty of it to some degree), and they actively seek out how they can take the most breaks, complete their own personal tasks on the clock, etc. I truly believe if corporations gave us another day of our life back (it sounds cheesy, but that is how it feels) that they would see higher production levels, and it would mean so much to employees. What makes me sick about the American system, is it feels like even if the corporation only made slightly more in profit by keeping the 5 day work week, and they knew it was between this small difference of profit and the overall well being of employees (even if production is technically higher with 4 days), they would choose more money every time.