How would you feel about working fewer than 40 hours a week? Most workers’ first reaction to hearing this is “yes!” because who wants to work more hours than needed? But this isn’t about workers being lazy; having a leaner workweek could be good for society.
The correlation between work hours, happiness levels and productivity
A study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that the Netherlands has the world’s shortest week for business professionals, with an average of 29 hours. Is it a coincidence that the Netherlands is also currently one of the top five happiest countries in the world, and consistently ranks in the top 10 happiest countries, according to the World Happiness Report?
Is it also a coincidence that in 2018 “Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand trust management company, announced a 20% gain in employee productivity and a 45% increase in employee work-life balance after a trial of paying people their regular salary for working four days.” It was such a success, the company made the four-day workweek policy permanent.
On the opposite end, HuffPost posted this: “Imagine that you are a 25-year old Japanese person that spends 9am – 10 pm at work every day. That’s not uncommon in Japan — actually, that’s pretty good since you don’t have to spend the night at the office.”
Stories about Japanese workers who have overworked themselves to death seem to be rising. There is even have a word for this phenomenon, Karōshi, which translates to overworked death. In The Atlantic, “Are Japan’s Part-Time Employees Working Themselves to Death?” reports that “some 4.5 million full-time workers in Japan have second jobs, where they work, on average, between six and 14 additional hours each week, on top of any overtime hours they clock at their primary job.”
This sometimes culminates to 70-hour work weeks when you count the multiple jobs. All this overworking can and has led to increased heart attacks and strokes due to stress and a ‘starvation diet’, which is when you do not eat enough to make up for the energy you are expending. This may be in correlation with the rising depression happening countrywide in Japan. The Japan Times even reported that working too much is causing people to have less sex.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. NPR published a story reporting that in 2019, “Microsoft Japan enjoyed an enviable perk this summer: working four days a week, enjoying a three-day weekend — and getting their normal, five-day paycheck. The result, the company says, was a productivity boost of 40%.” Cutting down the week also made the company more efficient in several areas, “including lower electricity costs, which fell by 23%” and a reduction in paper use.
In the United States, some companies like Amazon are starting to take notice of the benefits of a shorter work week. According to the Society for Human Management, at least 43% of companies in the United States offer a four-day week (although the option is only available to about 10% of employees). Trials for the four-day work week show lowered stress levels, a 20% increase in work-life balance, and a 20% increase in engagement across the board. Companies that utilize the four-day week have better employee retention, morale, and productivity.
The pros
In this fast-paced world, with a life that seems too short, simple changes like working fewer hours could have a huge effect. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim shows his support for a shorter workweek by stating, “You should have more time for you during all of your life — not when you’re 65 and retired.”
Exactly! People should have more time to be with their family, to try activities they’ve always wanted to do, to travel more. People shouldn’t have to wait for a rare three-day weekend to do the things they want to do. Even just allowing flexibility in our work schedule can be impactful, such as allowing to work from home, coming in late (for those not-early risers), working half days in the office etc. Companies could even encourage employees to go back to school or take training classes to learn skills they can apply to their job.
If a company doesn’t want to cut down hours, at least focus on sticking to 40-hour work weeks, because “The problem with working 70-80 hours in a week is that you probably accomplish about the same amount of work as someone who clocks in about 40 hours,” says John Brandon.
The cons
Working fewer hours or having a flexible schedule could hurt daily productivity. It can also hurt employees, who rely on working the full 40 hours or even working overtime to gain the income needed to support themselves and their families. This could cause more work stress. Employees might pick up a second job and end up working even more hours. This system is extremely dependent on many factors, such as the company, and the type and situation of the employees.
Most companies would also never want to have their employees to be paid the same to work fewer hours, and if they did enforce a shorter work week, they would probably pay employees less. Companies might even find ways to make it enticing but end up spinning it in a way that’s more beneficial for the employer rather than the employee.
Another con would be that just because people are given more free time, doesn’t mean they will utilize it in a beneficial way. In an idyllic world, people would use that spare time to spend more time with friends, learning new skills, participating in their favorite hobbies, traveling, exploring their town etc. but in reality, many people could waste it, spending time on the internet or watching T.V.