In today’s world, a standard 40-hour workweek is, for many, no longer fathomable or even desired. It is said that this way of working was put in place when it was the norm for one person to be out working while the other was at home taking care of household duties, cooking, and even children. However, in the 21st century, that way of living is long gone.
Armor Games is one of the first to try a four-day work week
John Cooney, the CEO of US-based games studio Armor Games, switched his employees to a 32-hour workweek last month. And on Twitter, he shared a thread of eight tweets of pie charts showing “early positive results” of the trial.
According to Cooney’s findings, employees enjoyed the work more and achieved just as much as what they would have in a 5-day week.
“Our team overwhelmingly likes the four-day workweek format,” he wrote. “Not wildly surprising but the team holds their own high bar for quality/work, and the pressure of 4 days work instead of 5 can be its own kind of adjustment/stress. Regardless 100% of the team enjoys the 4-day workweek.”
Employees are getting more done during time off
Cooney also shared that during their time off, employees were getting more things done in their house, spending time with loved ones, and even learning new skills and hobbies.
7/ Team shared what they're doing on Fridays, which has been amazing:
— John Cooney (@jmtb02) November 3, 2021
– Taking classes, learning new skills/hobbies
– Time with kids, family, friends
– Traveling to see extended fam
– Relaxing, books/tv/games
– Cooking
– Dr/vet appts
– Laundry/chores that eat into weekends
The experiment have met some challenges
Whilst most results were positive so far, a few challenges were met along the way.
Cooney shared that his employees felt that quality assurance (QA) cycles felt much less flexible. He also shared that his company was still observing how the compressed workweek affects the stress of all employees. Some staff reported that they had to work on their free Fridays “due to the rest of the world still at work.”
Other companies to also take part in the experiment
The reduction in working hours has been “hailed as an antidote” to overwork and poor work-life balance. And so, it has been reported that a growing number of companies have begun experimenting with reducing their work hours.
And the concept, which is labelled a four-day week, is set out to reduce working hours with no loss in pay.