Would you like to work in a company with four working days? Companies around the world are trying it out recently as it has come to their attention that long working hours stressed out their employees, and the effects trickle down to hurt productivity. Some companies have reported that there are tangible benefits to shorter official working hours such as having happier, healthier, and more efficient employees.
Britain’s Trade Union Congress is also advocating for the country to shift towards a four-day work week by the end of this century. Its argument is that workers deserve to share the wealth and benefits of new technologies such as machine learning, where less manpower should be involved.
Read the full article on Channel NewsAsia: Burnout, stress lead more companies to try a four-day work week
Analysis:
The reduction of working hours is a timely consideration as the nature of work is increasingly automated and aided by technology in this Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, its feasibility across all sectors and industries is debatable as there are certain work that requires the presence of a particular role, for example, a stem cell research assistant would need to constantly watch over the development of live cells. There could be ways to circumvent such an issue with hiring more manpower to fill in the gaps, but resource planning and availability are also considerations of organisations.
At the same time, there also exist deep workaholic cultures in some societies like Japan. There is even a notable term that describes death from overworking: karoshi. It shows the extent of importance placed by Japanese workers on long hours, making it extremely tough to change the way they approach work.
Watch this video below that explores some of the reasons behind the Japanese work ethic:
Employee well-being is an important aspect of the workplace that more employers are starting to reconsider. Besides cutting down a day of work, there are other possibilities of work policies that could improve working conditions and shape healthier work cultures.
Questions for further personal evaluation:
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- Do you think Singapore companies and employees would be receptive to the idea of a four-day work week?
- What else could possibly be done to improve employee well-being in the workplace?
Useful vocabulary :
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- ‘backlash’: a strong negative reaction by large group of people
- ‘circumvent’: find a way around
Picture credits:https://unsplash.com/photos/5ZnS3wK6sUg