Last July, Scientific American magazine concluded an experiment on implementing a four-day work week, without salary reduction, conducted over 6 months in 141 companies from 90 countries. The result? Reduction in burnout, increased job satisfaction, and improvement in physical and mental well-being. Let’s take stock of this HR trend with Marianne Lemay, CEO of Kolegz, a firm that supports organizations transitioning to a four-day week while practicing it internally.
The four-day week was heavily discussed at the height of the labor shortage. Is this still the case today, in a context of economic slowdown?
Marianne Lemay: Employers now have the upper hand. I’ve indeed noticed a decrease in requests concerning flexibility policies. However, I’ve seen employers who, with the economic slowdown, have started offering three- or four-day weeks with salary reduction.
So there’s an openness to the four-day week, but with salary reduction?
M. L.: Compared to ten years ago, there’s definitely much more openness from companies to move toward this model. However, we must understand that this applies in a very specific context: you can’t force people to reduce their salary.
Moreover, the larger the company, the more complex it is to implement. There can be an impact on schedule arrangements or the ability to respond to clients. The four-day week doesn’t happen overnight. It requires reflection and planning.
The recent study shows that the four-day week without salary reduction brings several benefits to employees. Is this an economically viable model?
M. L.: It’s a policy that can certainly be interesting for attracting employees. However, as an entrepreneur, you need to calculate how much it will cost. Are people really more productive on their fifth day? The answer depends on the type of business you operate.
If you’re a manufacturing company that builds bicycles, if you reduce employees’ hours, you’ll necessarily manufacture fewer bicycles. However, if you’re a service company, it’s possible that employees will be more productive by benefiting from an additional day off.
Studies are not unanimous on the effects on productivity of a compressed week, in the 4-day model without salary reduction. So you have the impression that in the service sector and perhaps also for knowledge workers, productivity gains are possible?
M. L.: Absolutely. If I take the example of my team, people have the choice to work 4 or 5 days a week – with a pro-rated salary. And the majority of my employees work 4 days a week. My observation is that they’re more rested and more creative, and therefore, they’re very productive in their 4 days. They really appreciate their 5th day: some do artistic projects, others take freelance contracts, rest, or do household chores. No one has gone back to 5 days.
From an external perspective, is it generally well received by clients to have employees who work four days a week?
M. L.: Once again, I believe it depends on the sector of activity. In our case, there’s nothing dramatic if we respond a day later. The important thing is to be very transparent with your clients.
Then, you need to have the managerial courage to lose a potential client who would be inconvenienced by this. Even though, in my experience, it doesn’t cause any loss of business opportunities.
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