May 28, 2021, 

08:36am EDT | 103,427 views

The Future Of Work Will Be

Five-Hour Days, A Four-Day
Workweek And Flexible
Staggered Schedules
Jack Kelly Senior Contributor
Careers
I write actionable interview, career and salary advice.

Workers are happy that they have options for shorter work days and work weeks along with exible
... [+] GETTY

Two years ago, you would have thought I was a fool for saying that nearly
every white-collar professional would be working from home. If I added
that people can be just as productive remotely as being in an office setting,
I’d be met with mocking derision. You’d laugh at hearing me say new
online video technologies would connect remote workers with their co-
workers and bosses so seamlessly that they’d use it too much and it’d
become tiresome.

The last year shattered the myth of people needing to trek into the office
every single day. It's high time that we confront other work taboos as well.
The post-pandemic future of work should include four or five-hour
workdays, four-day workweeks and staggered schedules where people
come and go based on their lifestyle needs. This would serve as other
options to remote and hybrid models.

The Four-Hour Workday

Putting aside Covid-19, prior to the pandemic, let’s be real about the
office. Your co-worker would arrive at 9:45 a.m. with yet another lame
excuse. A trip to Starbucks, bathroom breaks and a little kibitzing with the
gossipy person in accounting, the guy wouldn’t actually start working
until around 10:30 a.m. An hour later, he’d be asking around where
everyone wants to go for lunch. This goes on all day long and is echoed by
thousands of other workers around the world.

PROMOTED

There’s so much wasted time at the office. It's considered normal to hold a
meeting to prepare for the big meeting. Then, you actually go to the
meeting for two hours in a stuffy conference room, in which nothing gets
done. You wouldn’t be finished, as there’d be a post-meeting, wrap-up
meeting to talk about what happened.

Here’s an alternative: companies should offer a four or five-hour workday.

It doesn't have to be for everyone. For those interested, the tradeoff is that
they will have to get in on time, work diligently without any internet
shopping searches and remain dedicatedly focused. If you are able to
produce what is expected or exceed expectations, you’re out by around
2:00 p.m.

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In full disclosure, past executions of this concept were met with mixed
results. Digital Enabler, a small, 16-person, German-based company that
develops websites, apps and e-commerce platforms, tried a shortened
workday. The CEO, Lasse Rheingans, decided to shake up the traditional
working hours and instituted a five-hour workday. His theory was that if
an employee focuses on their job without distractions, they could finish
their tasks within the five-hour period of time.

There was a catch. Phones were locked away, no social media was
permitted and idle chit-chat was discouraged. Rheingans figured that his
employees would be highly motivated and productive, so that they can
start at 8 a.m. and leave by 1 p.m. This would provide his team with plenty
of time to relax after work, have a life and come back refreshed. The CEO
contended that employees would deliver better work for clients since
they’re happier.

The experiment had some challenges. Employees said that there was
pressure to get the same amount of work done in a lesser amount of time.
Also, it was an adjustment for them not being able to contact family or
friends throughout the day.

Two of his employees left the company. The CEO attributed it, in part, to
the shorter hours. Without the usual daily banter and camaraderie, it left
them feeling that there wasn’t much of a corporate culture. He said also
said, “I think for the first time in their career, they had the time to go
home and really consider, ‘What do I want to do for myself?’”

A company that Rheingans emulated, Tower Paddle Boards, previously

offered its staff a five-hour workday. Stephan Aarstol, the CEO of Tower
Paddle Boards, authored an article for Thrive Global last year, extolling
the virtues of a shortened work day. “Just because you’re at your desk for
eight hours doesn’t mean you’re being productive. Even the best
employees probably only accomplish two to three hours of actual work.
The five-hour day is about managing human energy more efficiently by
working in bursts over a shorter period,” he wrote. Aarstol claimed that
having less time creates periods of heightened productivity and a five-
hour workday is forced time management.

Aarstol authored the book, The Five Hour Workday, in which he

transparently shared the company’s experiences with a truncated
workday. He now says the experiment was a success at first, but then the
employees enjoyed their time off a little too much.

The CEO later dialed back the program and changed the five hours to only
the summer months, as the company lost its startup culture. Aarstol said,
“I had a team of nine, and I lost four people within a 90-day period.” He
added, “One of them I fired, but the other three left. So, I had all these
great people that had five-hour workdays, and they were leaving the
company.” Similar to the German company, Aarstol felt that leaving at
1:00 p.m. took away from the bonding and company culture.

Aarstol acknowledges that his workers became a little too “entitled” and
since they were only at work for a short period of time, they weren’t so
attached to the company and more focused on their newfound time off.

Okay, these weren’t roaring successes. However, you have to start

somewhere.

The Four-Day Workweek

There have been a number of companies and countries tinkering with the
four-day workweek. Microsoft Japan experimented with a shorter
workweek program, called “Work-Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer.”
The company gave its 2,300 employees the opportunity to “choose a
variety of flexible work styles, according to the circumstances of work and
life.” The goal of management was to see if there would be a
corresponding increase in productivity and morale when hours are cut
down.

The results of the experiment were extremely positive, indicative that

workers were both happier and 40% more productive. To be fair, workers
may have tried to make the project successful so that they could have a
permanent four-day workweek. It's possible that the 40% productivity
may not be realized once the shortened workweek is officially established
and, subsequently, taken for granted.

Spain previously announced that it would experiment with a trial four-day

workweek. The Spanish government agreed to a 32-hour workweek over
three years without cutting workers’ compensation. The Washington Post
reported, “The pilot program is intended to reduce employers’ risk by
having the government make up the difference in salary when workers
switch to a four-day schedule.” It will invest around $60 million toward
the costs of the pilot program for the companies that want to participate.
It's anticipated that around 200 companies and from 3,000 to 6,000
workers will be involved with the project.

Sanna Marin, a Finnish politician who has been the prime minister of
Finland since December 2019, previously promoted shortening the
amount of time people work. Marin put forth the idea of companies
adopting a flexible six-hour day and a four-day workweek at a panel
discussion before she became prime minister. Marin said, “I believe
people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones,
hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture. This could be the next
step for us in working life.”

Unilever, a British multinational consumer goods company,

headquartered in London, previously embarked upon a test of the four-
day workweek. The food and consumer-staples giant chose New Zealand
as the test-case location. This study is the natural progression of
experimenting with different types of work and life accommodations at
the company.

The employees will be compensated for a full five days, although they’re
only working for four. Nick Bangs, the managing director of Unilever in
New Zealand, said, "We hope the trial will result in Unilever being the
first global company to embrace ways of working that provide tangible
benefits for staff and for business."

Flexible Staggered Hours

The Covid-19 outbreak made us more aware and health conscious. When
people are returning to the office, companies are making sure that the
desks and furniture are arranged for social distancing. There are serious
discussions about mask mandates and mandatory vaccinations. Given the
concern of not having too many people in close proximity, wouldn't it
make sense for companies to offer flexible work schedules?

Let’s say there are dual-working parents with demanding jobs. One of the
parents could start their day at about 10:00 a.m. after dropping the kids
off at school. She’d stay at the office until around 6:00 p.m. At the end of
the workday, at about 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., her husband would leave to
pick their child up from daycare or preschool.

A big issue during the pandemic was that many working mothers felt the
pressure to leave their jobs to take care of children. It was particularly
challenging as public schools closed and the kids had to endure irritating
online video classes that necessitated parental help. A flexible and
staggered work schedule would smooth out these types of problems.

Intuitively, we could all probably agree, commuting back and forth to an

office, which could take up to three hours each day, leaves people
exhausted. Once at home, there’s barely enough time for some dinner and
little left over for quality time with the family. Add on all of the daily
pressures of life and work, it's easy to see why Americans experience so
much stress, alcohol and drug abuse and a high divorce rate.

By offering remote work, abbreviated workdays and shortened

workweeks, it could change our entire society. People will become more
relaxed. They’ll have a greater say and control over their lives. They won’t
feel imprisoned in gleaming skyscrapers, surrounded by crowded, dirty
cities.

It would help both the workers and management. We all know that we hit
a wall after staring at a computer screen for hours on end. There comes a
point of diminishing returns. We’d be better off getting into the flow, do
the best we can, then call it a day and come in fresh the next morning or
afternoon.

This trend aligns with the changing demands of the workforce in a hot job
market. The gig economy has made it more mainstream to work where
and when you want. Remote, hybrid, flexible staggered hours, job sharing,
four-day workweeks, five-hour days, hot desks and other initiatives are
being tried out by companies to enhance employee happiness and retain
talent. For many, having these options will provide for a healthier work-
life balance. These trends will quickly accelerate as companies recognize
it's a great, smart way to attract and retain workers.

Jack Kelly

I am a CEO, founder, and executive recruiter at one of the oldest and largest global
search rms in my area of expertise, and have personally placed thousands of…
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