The non-profit group 4 Day Week Global has been testing the “4-day work schedule” with several businesses for the last six months. The results indicate that the company’s income has climbed rather than decreased, and the majority of businesses even stated that they were hesitant to go back to the “5-day work arrangement.”
A total of 33 businesses and close to 1,000 people took part in the six-month “4-day work week,” according to “CNN Business.” According to the survey’s findings, the average revenue of the experiment’s participating enterprises climbed by 38% when compared to the same time previous year. The majority of these businesses stated they do not have any plans to switch back to the 5-day workweek; of the 495 respondents, 97% expressed a desire to keep the 4-day workweek.
The majority of the firms taking part in the project are from the US and Ireland. Companies who responded to the study gave the 4-day work trial a high grade of 9/10 based on productivity and performance. The survey also shows that workers’ Physical and mental health has improved, and that they experience less stress, weariness, sleeplessness, and burnout.
The identical trial was conducted in the UK by The 4 Day Week Campaign, including 70 businesses and 3,300 workers. In February 2023, the experiment’s findings will be made public. However, it is said that 100 UK businesses have permanently shifted to a 4- day work week.
Companies like the Construction Industry Council and the New World Group have tried out a 4 or 4.5-day work week in Hong Kong. However, it seems like employers in Hong Kong are not really interested in this change. The main reason is most likely related to the working culture in Asia. Especially in South-East Asia countries such as Japan, Korea and China, they are less pay attention to the “work-life balance” concept. And there are expected to hear the news about overworking causing death or health issue to employees in some of the countries. In Japanese, they call it “Karoshi” – which means death from overwork. And “996 Working Style” – 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week is easy to find in Mainland China. In our observation, Hong Kong employers are still stuck in the mindset of “Working Hours = Productivities”, it is never easy to make a change on it. Furthermore, Hong Kong society still keeps debating on the law drafting of “maximum working hours”, there is a long way to go for Hong Kong to have a trend of the 4-Day week.