A 4-Day Work Week: Are We Getting Any Closer To This New Way of Working?

Probably not.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I would love to have Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays off to live my life. I also know that I have a full-time job which entitles me to have holidays and if I wanted I could take some Fridays off and have a couple of long weekends. Many people don’t have this privilege.

In recent years, people are talking more and more about a 4-day work week. The pandemic already changed how most people work, but are we getting closer to this other change?

The supporters of a 4-day work week say that its benefits are: cost-cutting, more productivity and better work-life balance. Let’s analyse them:

Does a 4-day work week really decrease costs?

If you are talking about going to offices, a 4-day work week definitely decreases costs for both employers and employees. Employers will have fewer costs with water and electricity and any other expenses that a day in the office brings. Employees will have fewer costs with travelling and food and any other expenses that a day in the office brings.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are talking about working from home, the costs are probably relatively the same, because working from home already reduces most costs that working in an…