“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”…In an effort to attract and retain workers, many businesses are considering making changes to the standard work week and moving to a 4-day work week. So, here are some of the most common pros and cons people shared online.
1. Time To Do Other Things
“Working a 5-day work week just makes life seem so much more pointless. By the time I get the other things I need to do (grocery shopping, appointments, etc.) done, it’s Sunday night. A 4-day work week might give me time to play the piano I bought to combat depression.”
2. Time To Schedule Appointments
“My employer gives us every other Friday off. We work 80 hours over 9 days (M- F, M- Th). It’s really helpful to have those Fridays to schedule appointments, and I have less desire to burn PTO throughout the year just to take a much-needed Friday off. The only real downside is that on the Fridays that we do work, nobody wants to do anything”.
3. Doctors Appointments
“My company switched to 4 10-hour days. We are diesel technicians and work 7-5:30. Half of us work Monday through Thursday, and the other half work Tuesday through Friday. We have done this for over two years, and we all love it. It is so nice to have a three-day weekend every week. Another thing about it that is nice is if you have a doctor’s appointment or something, I can make it on a Monday and don’t have to miss any work”.
4. Less Commute
“I would probably hate Mondays less. A couple of years ago, I took a job that shortened my commute from 2 2-hour round trip to 30 30-minute round trip. I still haven’t figured out where that extra 1.5 hours went”.
5. Do Yardwork
“Life would be that much better. I would have somewhere around 50 extra days a year to do all the yardwork and home projects that I don’t want to spend all weekend doing”.
6. They Did It In The 70s
“They talked about this in the 70s. Yay, everyone said. My dad did it. He worked 4 12+ hr days and took off Friday. Everyone else was like: ‘If I work the 12 hrs the 4 days plus another 12, I can make even more money! Yay!’.
7. Welfare Benefits
“Think it makes sense. All the evidence suggests it works, and the welfare benefits would be enormous”.
8. Climate Change
“In terms of climate change, it’d be about 20% less CO2 emissions from commuters, which is nice”.
9. As Long As You Get Your Job Done…
“I not only think it would be great, but I think we should go further and eliminate required work hours for certain jobs altogether. Most office jobs can easily be done from home with a phone and a working internet connection”.
10. 12-hour day, 3 days a week
“Used to do a 12-hour day 3 days a week. It was glorious”.
11. No Change In Pay
“As long as it is 4 – 8 hour days with no change in pay, I can get the same amount of work done in 32 hours as I get done in 40”.
12. Game Changer
“My BF works 4 10s, and it’s a total game changer. He’s adjusted his schedule so that he wakes up at earlier hours on his days off, which gives him more time in his day, on top of already having an extra one. I’m self-employed, and I try to have all my work done by Fridays”.
13. Work-Life Balance
“I think it’s less about 4-day work weeks, but more about work-life balance. For people that’s already working more than 10hrs day or no-pay overtimes or working during holidays, working 4 days week means very little”.
14. Not Enough Staff
“It wouldn’t work for me; I work at an animal hospital, open 7 days a week, and there’s not enough of us to go around. And the company would never hire enough people to cover a four-day work week”.
15. A Lot Of Pit Falls
“You have to come up with a rotation. You can’t expect the world to shut down on Friday. So, now you need a weekend crew. Do they only work 3 days? Or are you over staffed on one day?”.
16. They’d Need To Hire More People
“I work healthcare. Specifically Public health. People stay sick 7 days a week”.
17. A Time Trap
“I feel that 3 days off in a row actually feels like 2 days off. And 2 days off in a row actually feels like 1 day off”.
18. Boriiiiiing
“I would feel bored, honestly. My work is my passion”.
19. Exhausting
“I did 4 tens for a while. I was so exhausted at the end of the fourth day I basically spent my fifth day recovering. I’m in IT st a small company now. I don’t see them going to 32 hour weeks for us”.
20. It Does Not Make Sense
“Nearly every study on productivity, happiness, flexibility, revenue, etc that deals with a “4 day work week” studies 4 8’s, not 4 10’s. The entire theory is that 40 hour work weeks are excessive for many modern jobs. Cramming the same hours into fewer days completely misses the point”.
21. All About Profit
“I don’t understand why it’s not the norm. Maybe because a person at work creates profit and a person at home doesn’t?”.
22. What About Kids?
“Would it be a 4 day school week for children? If so, then I would imagine that adults would love it more as they could spend more time with their kids”.
23. Plenty Of Evidence
“I absolutely support it. There’s so much evidence that backs the benefits up, but I agree with the comments about lower-paid workers just working more at other jobs. This system is good in theory for salaried workers, but not so much for hourlies…unless their wages were adjusted accordingly”.
24. Not In My Field
“I work with people with special needs and developmental disabilities. Four day work weeks wouldn’t work in my field”.
25. Minimal Production
“What management never understands is that they are only getting 4hrs, maybe 6hrs of actual work. Whether they want us there for 8 or 10 hours, they are still only getting minimal production. Personally, I’d rather work four 4hr days, and get paid for 40hrs”.
26. It Is Magical
“4-day work week haver here! It’s wonderful and does have the benefits they say it does. My schedule is Monday 6a-12p, Tue-Thur 6a-6p. While I don’t get anything but basic self-care done tue-thur, I have 3 and a half days to unwind, go to appointments, run errands, and do chores”.
27. It’s Worth It
“I enjoy my 4-day work week. 10 hours a day is a little tiring, but I have no reason to complain. I do the same amount of work, and I get an extra day off”.
28. We Need Wednesdays Off
“I’ve been dreaming about everyone (besides emergency responders, ofc) having Wednesdays consistently off. That would be an absolute dream, and the health benefits of it (mentally as well as physically) would be well worth it”.
29. Inhuman
“Long overdue. No point in being in the office 40hrs+ per week”.
30. Not Enough Time
“As a business owner, I have thought about implementing this, but the productivity and scheduling definitely worries me. It’s a warehouse, so having it closed for 1 day isn’t acceptable as that means people wouldn’t receive their shipments in time”.
