American workers were seen leaving the labor force in droves throughout most of 2021. A seven-month-long period of millions of workers quitting their jobs for all sorts of reasons. By November 2021, a record-shattering 4.4 million employees quit within one month, an amount that represented at least 3% of the American labor force at the time.
There have been plenty of reasons why employees have been quitting, with most citing reasons of low pay, limited opportunities, and toxic work environments where they’re feeling disrespected. Around 63% of employees left their jobs because of inadequate wages, and roughly 39% felt they were working too many hours.
The pandemic-induced movement which was soon dubbed as The Great Resignation saw in total more than 38 million Americans either quitting permanently or switching jobs.
The ongoing movement has put employers, unions, and labor organizations in the spotlight to address workplace issues that have been overlooked for decades.
The message is clear, and American workers now want their employers to listen. The pandemic gave new meaning to the term “work-life balance”, as millions were forced to work from home or on a hybrid basis during the first few months of the pandemic in 2020.
While at the time employers thought that this might only be a temporary solution, those who were seen with increased productivity from their teams, and who managed to increase revenues during extended lockdown periods would soon reshuffle business models – sticking to a hybrid or fully remote working schedule.
Now, roughly two years later, and millions of Americans either out of work or between jobs, employers are struggling to fill open vacancies. Some have resulted to offer better employee perks such as increased wages, larger dental and medical plans, and mobility.
This may be what some employees have been looking for, especially those in work environments where being “married to the job” is a basic requirement when applying, but there’s still an underlying concept that some major corporate employers and big-box commercial outlets are trying to ignore, for now at least.
The four-day workweek.
When it comes to the four-day work week, there’s one thing that stands out above everything else – flexibility. When the pandemic struck back in March 2020, and most people started working from home, their jobs now came with an added benefit that they’ve been craving for years, having more flexibility while still being able to get their work done.
Interestingly enough, the four-day workweek concept is a massive global movement, and companies such as 4-Day Week Global have been pioneering the movement in countries such as Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, and closer to the end of 2021, the United Kingdom.
Our Western allies across the world have been flirting with this idea for quite some time already, but American employers have fallen behind.
The simple truth is, Americans have always been accustomed to the five-day workweek, and it’s been like that for almost a hundred years now. The general perception that working between 40 and 45 hours per week, for five consecutive days has come since the time of The Great Depression.
By now you’ll be well aware of the fact that Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company was one of the first major employers in America to introduce the 40-hour workweek. Back then, factory and line workers were churning out thousands of car pieces, and assembly lines were predominantly labored by hand.
A little while later, in 1938, labor unions across the U.S. pushed for better working standards, across the board, and in the same year, the government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Today, FLSA is still enacted, and it’s remained a beacon for employers across America.
When we fast forward to the 21st century, the working environment is now looking somewhat different. Factories are more autonomous, assembly lines are digitally controlled, office workers are now commuting via video conferencing platforms, important documents are shared via cloud-based technology, and employees are using digital platforms for everyday work.
The underlying notion stands that employers are still perhaps thinking of the times of Ford. Having hundreds, if not thousands of employees altogether in one building, under one roof, is easily manageable, and overseen by a cohort of micromanagers.
The Four Day Workweek In Practice
As mentioned, some countries, even well before the pandemic, were already running trials on the four-day work week, and while it’s proven to be successful, the results speak for themselves.
In Iceland, trials on a shortened workweek were run between 2015 and 2019, where around 1% of the country’s total working population were seen working between 35 and 36 hours per week.
The final results of the trials revealed employees were less stressed, anxious, or tired. Additionally, productivity increased, and companies were able to establish more progressive work practices.
Since then, Iceland currently sits with more than 86% of its total working population either working four days per week or at least having access to the opportunity. Working standards, excluding that of paid maternity, or paternity leave, sick leave, paid vacation days, and other medical benefits have seen both private and public sectors experience increased productivity and revenue.
Similar to Iceland, other places around the world have been following suit as well. The Nova Scotia municipality of Guysborough tried the same exercise in 2020, with local government officials claiming that there’s a 50/50 chance of the municipality permanently implementing a shortened workweek.
Back in 2019, Microsoft Japan was one of the leading tech giants in the eastern region who shifted into a four-day workweek which saw the company having a 40% increase in productivity.
New Zealand, a country that has been globally appraised for its proper containment, and management of the novel coronavirus have left employees with a sense of envy for years. Staff at Barnes’ Perpetual Guardian have already been working fewer days per week since 2018, while still being paid the same.
Unfortunately, while the movement quickly caught the attention of the global community, there’s been a slow implementation of the four-day workweek practice throughout the rest of the country so far.
Whether we want to discourage the idea of the four-day work week, or perhaps consider it as a basis of improving employee attitude, and company loyalty – American employers still have an increasingly long road to go.
How’s It Looking in America?
There’s no need to be completely discouraged, yet. Some companies and even government officials have been driving the four-day workweek movement for quite some time, with the majority of its stemming from the pandemic and The Great Resignation.
The most progressive until now is Congressman Mark Takano, who was able to introduce new legislation back in 2021 to shorten the American workweek.
The legislation will see employers having to cut back on the average working hours, going from 45/40 hours per week to roughly 32 hours per week. Additionally, the legislation has always been a way to help address ongoing income inequality, and allow those in disproportionate working conditions to catch up with their more advanced colleagues.
There’s also Silicon Valley eCommerce unicorn, Bolt who was able to complete a three-month experiment for shortened work weeks and saw an overall improvement in productivity, engagement, and wellness. Since then, the company has been able to implement a four-day workweek and has been recognized as one of the very first companies in the tech industry to do so.
Primary, an online children’s clothing brand was also mentioned during a New York Times article to have a 32-hour workweek.
There are dribs and drabs of these examples all across the world, and in America too, but we’re still a few years behind other leading nations and employee unions who are too progressive in the field of employee wellness.
The Downside
While a shorter workweek is something a lot of us dream about, and some companies are starting to trial and experiment with – there’s still a lot of downside to it, and for the most part, we can see why some employers have remained reluctant to ultimately move to work fewer hours per week.
For starters, the American labor market is still struggling through one of the toughest labor shortages experienced in decades. Increased job openings, and not enough people to fill them are aggravating the labor market into new territories we’ve yet to experience.
Additionally, a shorter workweek may only be adopted by some companies, as states have different worker and employer regulations. Some oppose the idea of shorter workweeks, whereas others may directly see employees working less, but also taking a severe pay cut.
Then there’s also the fact that some employees may feel even more stressed, and overworked now that they have less time in the week to get through everything. This is exactly the opposite of what a shorter week is supposed to be doing.
Look, there’s a lot of good and bad when it comes to having a shorter workweek, and for those older generations who’s been working for decades with their regular 9-5, five days a week, perhaps that’s fitting for you – but the labor market is changing, and companies need to progress alongside changing trends and developing employee demands.
Is It The Bargaining Chip For Employers?
The answer is still unclear, and if employers are looking to fill job openings they will need to look at new ways they can adopt a business model that attracts the right talent to their company.
More so, it’s not to say that a shorter workweek is what all employees want, some are comfortable with their current situation – it’s flexibility and mobility that stand out in the end.
Some employees enjoy having the option to either have more time in the week to work from home or perhaps from the office, others would like to spend most of their time working remotely as it offers better mobility.
At the end of the day, American employers will need to find the middle ground, which will see them increasing productivity and revenue, without having to overwork employees. The four-day workweek may still be a few years away, but at least we can already see a progressive movement towards it.
