American companies increasingly offer employees a 4-day workweek
By: Hadlen Hitson
Nashville Tennessean
USA Today Network - Tennessee
..... The traditional five-day, 40-hour workweek ended years ago for many Americans.
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What's taken f its place is a combination of long hours remote work, some mandatory in-office days - and in some places, a four-day workweek.
..... "People have questioned their won work-life balance and what they truly value," said Kelly Manix, professor of human resources at Middle Tennessee State University. "Any kind of flexible work arrangement, I think people are starting to become more interested in demanding that, whether it;s telecommuting or a compressed workweek."
..... One of the buzziest workplace innovations is the four-day workweek. Twenty-two percent of employees in 2024 reported that their company offered a four-day workweek option, according to the American Psychological Association's annual Work in America survey. That number was 14% in 2022.
..... Major companies, ThredUp, Microsoft, Kickstarter and Shake Shack have piloted four-day workweek programs, and in other parts of the world, the four-day week has already become the norm. It became a legislated right in Belgium in 2022.
Driving the change
..... A 2023 Gallup poll found that 41% of workers are on the clock for 45 hours or more per week. Meanwhile, 67% of U.S. companies offer some version of a "flexible schedule,' incorporating remote work or adjustable hours, according to the work management startup Scopp's Flex Index.
..... Manix and other workforce experts who spoke to the Tennessean. part of the USA Today Network, agreed" The way Americans want to work is changing.
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Factors like the coronavirus pandemic, labor shortages and lowered barriers to changing jobs created an environment where workforce power dynamics are shifting. When employees make demands, employers must listen, Workforce Software Chief Customer Experience officer Sadra Moran said.
..... "There's more awareness aobut the cost of turnover and the cost of job dissatisfaction," she said, "Coupled with tis feeling that employees have more power in this equation, that's driving these changes."
How a four-day week works
..... The most common from of a four-day workweek is the 100-80-100/ Essentially, companies pay their employees 100% compensation for 80% of the hours, and employees are expected to maintain 100% productivity and output.
..... That can look like simply dropping Friday off the schedule, making a 32-hour-week, or allowing employees to adjust their hours on their own volition.
..... However, many companies that move to four-day weeks don't lower weekly hours, opting four 10-hour days instead. Fro example, New York software company Elephant Ventures offers employees four 1-hour days of fully remote work.
..... "There's definitely some logistical challenges," said Randy Dismang, general manager of a car dealership in Murfeesboro, Tennessee. When the dealership began offering a four-day workweek post-pandemic, it became his job to ensure the location is fully staffed."
..... From cutting operating hours to streamlining meetings and organizing employee schedules to minimize the impact on customers, overhauling a company;s status quo can require a lot of time and communication.
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When Nashville marketing agency BRND House moved to a four-day week, founder Lisa Field said the team had to coordinate with every client about the shift and send out weekly reminder emails that they would not be working on Fridays.
..... "We didn't really have any push back," she said. "I think there will always be things that pop up on a Friday, but in the nature of our business, there's always going to be things that pop up on the weekend too, or at night."
..... Some companies that aren't making the shift to a32-hour, four-day workweek are offering other nontraditional options instead, such as half-day Fridays or a Friday off every other week, said Nashville Chamber of Commerce Chief Talent Officer Stephanie Coleman.
Investment in better service
..... Some industries are more easily suited for workplace changes and innovation than others. According to the Flex Index, the most flexible industries are technology, insurance and telecommunications.
..... The least are restaurants, education and hospitality - but that doesn't mean a four-day workweek is impossible.
..... Dallas-based restaurant and wine bar Sixty Vines offers managers a four-day workweek once a month. CEO Jeff Carcara said that benefit has been a significant differentiator when it comes to hiring and retaining employees in his 11 restaurants nationwide.
..... "It's allowing them to really plan out and look forward to that three-day weekend," Caracra said. "What we've heard the most is that they're able to do things they normally wouldn't have done in a previous job, working 60 hours a week and five days a week, sometimes six."
..... The change came amid the pandemic, when hiring for restaurant jobs was the most competitive Carcara had seen in years. he said there were instances when other restaurants would approach Sixty Vines employees, offer a $10,000 raise and poach them on the spot.
..... "It was a little bit of a cutthroat time in certain markets," Carcara said. "We also, at that time, said it's time to rethink our industry."
.... He had a quick realization that long-term change was necessary to maintain success. Without innovations like the four-day workweek benefit, he said, regular turnover would be unavoidable.