Would you like to have a 4-day workweek? And how would you compensate the extra day off?
Ghost Kitty
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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?
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Sherry Xena@sherryxena
I think working four days a week will make me happier
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@jason_andries1 Yes that's right
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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
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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.
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i love the idea of a 4-day workweek, the extra day will be a good way for me to relax and that'll increase my productivity and creativity and purpose to my work
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@jason_andries1 but at a much more relaxed state of mind
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@marek_mardosewicz Hey Marek, wow I'm also a Scriptwriting fan / AI enjoyer. Nice to meet you!!!
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!)
I would love to have a four-day workweek! Working five days a week can sometimes become quite monotonous and draining, therefore having an extra day for relaxation or whatever else one needs would be such a nice change. As for compensating the extra day off, I think employers should still take into consideration what is fair according to the regular 5-day workload; working an additional hour or two during those other four days can create a considerable balance. In addition, persons who choose to take on additional tasks or responsibilities during this time may even be able to earn something extra in exchange. Ultimately, no matter how itβs done, having a 4-day workweek would be exciting and refreshing.
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Actually, in our startup we're working on this new model. Some of our team members are making some test. I think we will have information to take decision in a couple of months..
In my personal experience, it depends on the role that you have and the way that you work. For some positions will be easier than others...
For me, running marketing was easy work in 4 days, but when I was running sales, the 5 day is super useful to close more MRR
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@jason_andries1 We are also curious for the results. Although it is true that it would be a norm for the sales department, the crazy salesman will prefer not "lose" the MRR that they could close on that day. We will the results once we'll have ready:)
Would love test out a 4 day week, productivity would definitely improve
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If I can choose, definitely yes!
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π€ How would this system work with discretionary time off?
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I wish!
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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!
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@jason_andries1 Isn't 7 days a week common for bootstrap makers and creators? π
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.
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@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...
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A day's worth of work on Friday is 8 hours, and we work for 4 days. So based on calculations, 8 Γ· 4 = 2 extra hours per day from Monday-Thursday, which would be quite manageable.
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I believe in a 4 hour workweek!
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Yes, I think that would improve productivity and give the worker a sense of freedom.
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I could definitely use an extra day off! I don't mind working longer hours. With flexible working hours I end up working more during weekdays anyways (I really enjoy my tasks, but also sometimes it's hard to prioritize, so I try to do all at once). That would be great to have one more day to be able to take mind off things :)
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Definitely yes. The weekend is closer, the speed of the tasks is higher π
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@dmitry_sytsevich @jason_andries1 are there any risks of burning out? I think so..
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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!
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