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The 4-day week means 4 days on, three days off. For some lucky people, this means 28 hours. It may seem like a utopian idea, but many companies around the world have already adopted it:
What prompted companies to move towards this new weekly organization? The issue of the 4-day week is not new. In 1993, French politician Pierre Larrouturou introduced the idea into the political debate, and took part in the 1996 Robien law, whose flexibility would be erased by the uniformity of the 35-hour working week reform.
It was the Covid crisis, and in particular the confinement of 2020, that suddenly brought the 4-day week back into the spotlight. This health crisis enabled many companies to see that this new work organization did not make them less productive - quite the contrary. This is what we'll see below.
It's the antithesis of Nicolas Sarkozy's famous presidential campaign slogan. Yet that's exactly what the 4-day week offers many employees. Particularly those lucky enough to work 28 hours for 35 hours pay.
This was the basis of the 1936 reform: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, 8 hours of rest. It took almost 120 years for this slogan, coined by Robert Owen in 1817, to be put into practice.
Today, whatever the working time of the 4-day week, it gives employees three days of free time, which can be spread over a Wednesday, for example, at the company's discretion.
Nearly one employee in two suffers from psychological distress in France, and the figures are much the same in other countries, including the USA. The 4-day week, with the balance between family life and professional life it affords, limits this trend.
Working less means carrying out the same tasks. As a result, we wonder how employees, who are already struggling to do the work they are asked to do, could achieve in 4 days what they sometimes can't even do in 5.
The 4-day week leads to absenteeism in the workforce. Some companies have to stay open 5 or 6 days out of 7, so the workforce has to rotate. As a result, those present have to carry out the tasks of those absent, and thus become more versatile.
While this versatility may suit certain profiles, it's not the case for all employees, some of whom don't much appreciate thinking outside the box.
The case of the wage cut is exactly what happened at the Volkswagen plants in Germany. There, the 4-day week led to a 20% pay cut, limited by bonuses.
Companies that have implemented the 4-day week all seem to agree on one thing: employees are more productive. Why are they more productive? Because they're less tired, their life balance is better, and they're also keen to keep this work organization.
This benefit follows on from the other. As employees are less tired, they are more present and focused on the tasks at hand. This is directly reflected in their relationship with customers, the lifeblood of any business.
Happy customers are the backbone of a company's economic health. And it's not the only competitive advantage.
To survive, companies need to attract the best employees. The 4-day week is a huge competitive advantage on the job market. Why is this? Because candidates are increasingly looking for companies that take their well-being into account.
A company with a 4-day week sends out a strong signal that their needs as a family caregiver are taken into account.
The production plant is the best example. How do you reconcile 3-8 shift work, for example, with a 4-day week? The aforementioned giant Volkswagen didn't last long when it had to increase the number of hours its employees worked to produce new vehicle models.
Lacking the 4-day week in France, large companies no longer have the flexibility of VSEs and SMEs. In large groups, reorganization rhymes more often with restructuring than with well-being at work, because any reform has a significant cost.
It's a fact that the 4-day week distances employees from customers' work schedules. As a result, communication difficulties arise between employees and customers. Without good working time management, failure is guaranteed.
Numerous tests are being carried out around the world:
We know the British are pragmatic. That's why they decided to test the 4-day week on 70 companies over a 6-month period. The mid-term results are very positive, with productivity gains.
Other 4-day week test programs have been developed. In California, New Zealand and the United States. Results are promising everywhere.
Panegyrists of the 4-day week point to the potential creation of 1.5 million jobs in France. However, since the question made its comeback in 2020, the political trend doesn't seem to be on its side.
On the contrary, the 2022 amended finance law has even come to defiscalize overtime hours up to 7,500 euros net taxable value instead of 5,000 euros. A clear message about the current political trend: work more to earn more.
Right in the middle of the North Atlantic, Iceland has carried out the most far-reaching reform. Begun in 2015, the reform of working hours on the island now enables 86% of Icelanders to benefit from adapted schedules that reduce their working hours.
In Spain, the government is piloting a test involving 200 companies whose employees will not work 32 hours instead of 35, but 32 hours instead of 40.
France, whose government does not seem to be moving in this direction, may well have to jump on the bandwagon in the years to come.
Microsoft Japan has shown that the productivity of employees working 4 days a week can increase by 40%.
Less tired, more focused employees better serve the interests of the company's customers.
Companies offering a 4-day week naturally attract new talent.
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