Why Some Companies Are Testing a 4-Day Work Week

An increasing number of companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition may be quality of life for employees. In this Motley Fool Live segment from "The Virtual Opportunities Show," recorded on April 5, Fool.com contributor Rachel Warren takes a look at this emerging trend in the workplace and how employers are taking notice. 

Rachel Warren: This is a concept that I feel like we've talked about before. I've talked about on some different shows. I don't think it's feasible for all jobs in all industries, but I do think it is an interesting concept. According to this article on CNBC, a four-day workweek pilot program is officially underway in the US and Canada. The pilot program is being spearheaded by a company called 4 Day Week Global. It just kicked off on Friday, April 1st. That's expected to last this pilot program for six months. What's interesting is there's quite a list of companies that have joined, 38 companies in North America are on board for this pilot program so far. There's also a planned UK trial that's going to be starting on June 1st and more than 50 British companies with 3,000 employees have signed up for that trial. There was an interesting quote from the founder of 4 Day Week Global. He was saying more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life and that reduced hour of productivity-focused working is the vehicle to give them that competitive edge. Again, we've been talking about how companies are in some cases, struggling to maintain and attract workers.

I saw this article that was like, we're basically living in strange times when you have the IRS competing for workers with McDonald's and Target. But that is truly the labor market we're in right now. One thing that is, I think a very interesting concept for companies to consider, besides perhaps increased benefit, maybe more competitive pay packages, a lot of the general things we often talk about, and flexible work options, part of that could be a flexible or four-day workweek for certain job roles, perhaps.

The idea behind the four-day workweek, according to this article, is that employees work 80 percent of the time for 100 percent of the pay and maintain 100 percent productivity. There was a recent survey that found that 92 percent of US workers are in favor of a shortened workweek. The article also noted almost 48 million Americans walked away from their jobs in 2021. In the month of February alone, nearly 4.4 million workers quit their jobs. The great reshuffle is it's often being termed now and I like that term, I think it's a little bit more positive connotation, is very much continuing. It does not appear to be slowing down and I like this idea of companies perhaps trying to find a more lasting solution in changing the way their workweek looks in some cases.