Would You Support a Four-Day Workweek?

What’s the story?

• Are you ready for the weekend…on Thursday?
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told the Iowa United Food and Commercial Workers forum on Sunday that he’s open to the idea.
• "Shortening the workweek is certainly one idea that we have got to look at," the 2020 contender said, though he added there are "a number of other ideas" to improve the wellbeing of American workers.

Pros of a four-day workweek

Economists have been pushing for a four-day working work in recent years, taking their argument to the Davos 2019 summit.

Adam Grant, a psychologist from the Wharton School in Pennsylvania:

 "I think we have some good experiments showing that if you reduce work hours, people are able to focus their attention more effectively, they end up producing just as much, often with higher quality and creativity, and they are also more loyal to the organizations that are willing to give them the flexibility to care about their lives outside of work."

Economist and historian Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists:

"In the 1920s and 1930s, there were actually major capitalist entrepreneurs who discovered that if you shorten the working week, employees become more productive. Henry Ford, for example, discovered that if he changed the working week from 60 hours to 40 hours, his employees would become more productive, because they were not that tired in their spare time."

Cons of a four-day workweek

• As Fast Company explained:

It’s a “risk that workers fail to meet their work requirements. This was most evident in Sweden’s two-year trial that reduced a 40-hour week to 30 hours while continuing a five-day structure. While the study recorded higher worker satisfaction, it ultimately became too costly to uphold.”

• Some industries require a five (or more) day work week, or 24/7 presence online. In these industries, a four-day workweek would be impractical.
• What does labor want? Workers may want (or need) to work more hours to get more pay. And, as Fast Company noted, “some jobs just take time.”

What do you think?

Would you support a four-day workweek?  Take action above and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStock / VladSt)