Benefits Of A 4-Day Work Week For Employees And The Environment
Evidence Is Emerging That The Four-Day Work Week Is Great For Both Employees And Productivity.
A large study in the UK that was recently conducted on 61 companies saw a slight increase in revenue during the study. Additionally, employees reported less burnout, higher productivity, and even more sleep. The review follows similar successful research in organizations everywhere, from Sweden to Japan to New Zealand.
Not surprisingly, the idea of a four-day workweek has garnered an impressive list of prominent supporters, from Wharton professor Adam Grant to Bernie Sanders.
Many bosses who have tried it are also enthusiastic supporters. However, they are often wary that companies must be clear about implementing shorter working hours, stressing that the change is not without challenges.
But there’s one super fan of the four-day workweek that gets little attention in the business press: As Grist magazine recently reminded readers, planet Earth loves the four-day workweek, too.
Benefits Of A 4-Day Work Week For Employees And The Environment, Less traffic, more service
Why do fewer working hours help the environment? Grist Magazine’s Claire Elise Thompson spoke with Juliet Scour, an economist and sociology professor at Boston College who has studied the relationship between climate change and work for nearly 40 years, to find out.
The first and most obvious example that makes it clear that less time at work equals better health for the planet is less commuting. Thompson reports that four studies of four-day workweeks conducted worldwide indicated that commuting time was reduced by about half an hour per week.
The less frantic rush to get to work means less CO2 in the atmosphere. You could argue that telecommuting has similar or even more significant effects in this regard, but short work weeks have other environmental benefits.
Studies of four-day workweek experiments show that significant numbers of new employees give back to the community, either volunteering or organizing around issues they care about.
It turns out that when we have more energy and time, many people spend it becoming better citizens, which benefits our neighborhoods, democracy, and the planet.
Lowering the hours may also mean lower energy consumption, but the data does not prove this.
Review success
These minor changes are not significant and are not an immediate solution to environmental crises. But the paper argues that the most crucial benefit of a four-day workweek may be more about changing attitudes about work and consumption.
Indeed, research on the four-day workweek may offer valuable lessons about worker happiness. In this pilot study in the UK, 15% of employees said that no amount of money would convince them to return to the five-day work schedule.
In other words, showing employees how different work-life balance can be is one of the goals of this research. Instead of blindly chasing more hours, more money, higher status, and more luxurious equipment, many people consider other factors for human flourishing instead of traditional measures of success.
One participant in the four-day-a-week study explains: People are focused on chasing money. But you realize when you have more time; it’s not all about the money. It’s about your time and what you want to do with it. How grateful you are for this significant part of your week to invest in whatever you desire to do.
