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  • Would you like to have a 4-day workweek? And how would you compensate the extra day off?

    Ghost Kitty
    96 replies
    The 4-day workweek is a big debate in many countries, and research claims it boosts productivity and overall employee happiness. Would you like to work 4 days instead of 5? And if so, would you work longer days or have fewer vacation hours in return?

    Replies

    Bastian Ernst (wildmetrics.io)
    we are doing a 4-day work week experiment in our team right now. we have done a bunch of research but have not heard of companies reducing holidays when applying a 4-day work week? do you have a blog post or example that explains this more?
    Aaron O'Leary
    I worked a 4 day work week and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it, I did, I'll always appreciate reclaiming a day but it has to be done right, there needs to be either a strategy in place which prevents loss of productivity or just accept that a day is missing in the week and readjust expectations around that
    Swapratim Roy
    I'd rather build multiple streams of passive income and shorten the work days to 4 instead of 5. Trading off with more working hours is a secondary choice to me but I'd prefer it over trading with vacations.
    Swapratim Roy
    @jason_andries1 Absolutely. With creators economy booming around, this is a new gold rush for a lot of people at this moment.
    Matt Harbord
    I have worked 4 days before and did it at 0.8 salary. It was awesome, and the salary loss was massively offset by the fact my marginal tax rate on that extra day was around 50% anyway. I mean, vacation is a funny one, it should be pro-rated down anyway to account for the fact you're only working 4 days a week. So if you used to get 25 days, you should now only get 20. That's not really trading in vacation time, it's more like you're working less so you don't "earn" as much PTO. It depends on the type of work you do, but certainly for coding, my view is that productivity doesn't scale linearly with time spent. At a guess I'd say you get 90% or more productivity in 4 days rather than 5 without cutting pay or working longer hours. A friend of mine works 5 days in 3 - to me that seems untenable; I can't imagine hour 12 on day 3 has any value to the employer at all - at that point it just seems like a charade from both the employer and employee, with neither happy. But my key point is the more senior someone is the less of their salary you're paying for them to be at the coalface, and the more you're paying them for their prior experience. Knowing how to solve a problem / what mistakes to avoid is value you can extract whether they're available 3, 4 or 5 days. Obviously the less they're in the more of a lag you have getting access to that info - but I'd happily keep a senior dev on 4 days for 90%, 3 days for 75% and 2 days for 50% of their full salary - I think I would be ahead on that deal.
    Azar Dunyaminoghlu
    If you are working for startups that means you don`t have a chance for the 4-day workweek. There always have some bugs to solve immediately. But if you are working for a big company (for ex: an oil company) that could work for you. At the same time, a 4-day workweek is going to get less salary than a 5-day workweek. If you can get a chance to get extra freelance work, that could be the benefit of a 4-day workweek.
    Olatz Urrutia
    Research suggests that a 4-day workweek can improve work-life balance, productivity, and job satisfaction for employees, so I'd be up to research it. However, I am concerned if this would affect our vacation days at all. I for one like to take 2 weeks in the summer to travel, but if it can I would love to try it.
    Olatz Urrutia
    @jason_andries1 Agree! But super interesting topic. In fact there are companies in France (not sure if anywhere else) that they put it into practice. Will it be the method of the future? Do you think we will soon start testing it? At least once a month and then we'll see...
    pixie2
    I wouldn't so much like an extra day off as the opportunity to work somewhere out of the office one day a week as a team. Like some kind of camping trip or something like that. Now almost everyone works from their laptops, you can put up some tents source, take some poufs, and work somewhere outdoors. For me, the outdoors is a way to connect with other people and build relationships. Whether it's a group hike, a camping trip with friends, or a team-building exercise, being outside together can create a sense of camaraderie and shared experience that is hard to replicate elsewhere.
    Martina Hackbartt
    I'd love to try a 4-day workweek! And I think it wouldn't really make sense to "recover" that time with more hours throughout the week or vacation days since more time does not necessarily mean more done. I'd say companies and individuals would just need to readjust the way hours are distributed throughout the day, so as to increase efficiency without doing extra hours (to me, there is not a lot of difference in results in working 11 hours in contrast to 8, and I actually think it's detrimental!)
    Serena De Maio
    As a co-founder, I tend to work over the weekend and I'm ok with that as far as I can also spend quality time with by babies (2) during the week. It is important for ex that I spend with them dinner, bath, and prep for bedtime. When I work on the weekend, sometimes I book a babysitter so kids can go out and play while I work. Everybody need to find the balance that fit their life and needs, some will love 4 days week, some will love to work more ;)
    Gavin Yerxa
    I'm supportive of a 4-day work week for those that want it, and feel that it maximizes their productivity. I think freelance workers have been experimenting with things like this for a long time. You see many freelancers who prefer to batch their work into just 3 or 4 days. Others prefer spreading it across 6 days, or even 7. We're all different, and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another person!
    Bakemono Fra
    Yes! I would spend the extra day studying and learning new things. I think there is a long way to go to understand how to make the 4-day workweek work across virtually all fields, but it needs to be done. It’s the way forward
    Simon
    I would compensate by being more relaxed and happy.... except I work for myself and I would never buy that line......so it's back to seven days a week for me!
    Simon
    @jason_andries1 Isn't 7 days a week common for bootstrap makers and creators? 🙂
    Igor Sadkin
    I would love a 4-day workweek! I'd spend the extra day staring at my computer screen pretending to work, just like I do on the other four days. But at least I'd be at home in my pajamas while doing it.
    Anoir Houmou
    Would love test out a 4 day week, productivity would definitely improve
    Elli Kim
    Even working 4.5 days with slightly longer days and one very short day would be great in terms of work and life balance. But it's actually the idea of having more control over when & where you work that I really love.
    Nitesh Chandel
    In my organization, we adopted the 4-day work-week a few months back and it has increased productivity as well as also decreased our attrition rate to zero for the last 6 months.
    Anson Leung
    For that extra day, I will prefer to start some self-learning or projects that can boost my career. Sometimes it is just hard to squeeze extra hour to start any kind of self-learning after a long day
    Nilan Saha
    I like the idea of having a 4-day work but I suspect that I will be too bored after a while since most of my friends do not have that.
    Saul Fleischman
    Hate to say it, but there are parts of the world where people now, thanks to the internet and remote work, have the opportunities also available in the overfed, over-placated Western world. More work hours, not less, if we are to keep pace.