South Africa, are you game for a four-day work week?
A way to solve unemployment, reducing climate change, and making life better for single mothers...
We first heard about the introduction of the four-day work week in the United Kingdom, where several companies were testing out the concept in a trial project.
And now we don't just get to talk about it in the office!
Several companies in South Africa have decided to participate in a pioneer project.
"A coalition of South African organisations, including Productivity SA, is now recruiting for a"pioneer pilot" in 2023, when employees at participating companies will work 80% of their current hours for 100% of their current pay." (Business Insider)
The great news is that the benefits of the four-day work week don't just positively impact employees, but also the firms endorsing it.
Ongoing research has revealed that companies will still be able to achieve 100% of their output, and get this, still save money.
There's a possibility that this new work structure may help with unemployment, making the lives of single mothers easier, and also reducing climate change.
The four-day work week trial in the UK has just reached its halfway stage, and of the 70 companies who have participated, 86% of them are planning to keep this schedule permanently.
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Some of the other benefits for South Africa include employees taking lesser sick days, which helps companies in that they don't have to call in temps.
Also squeezing in all your work to make up for the time lost during load shedding helps companies save money.
"As for unemployment, one thesis is that four-day weeks encourage some organisations to hire more people using the money it saves on overheads due to a compressed work week." (Business Insider)
Now it's just the matter of finding participants, which will cost some money (but minimal). The benefits for companies who join the project comes into play when they receive "a confidential impact assessment specific to each organisation".
This is based on the productivity aspects as well as the well-being of the workers, all measured against their previous rates prior to the four-day work week.
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