While lockdowns have made a large number of employees re-evaluate the notoriously tricky  work-life balance, a proposed four-day working week is designed to offer employees flexible hours and increase productivity during working hours.

So, as remote working has proven more viable for many businesses across the globe during the pandemic, could the five-day working week be the next traditional policy revisited?

Below, Sam O’Brien, Chief Marketing Officer at performance marketing platform Affise, looks into the industries that could benefit from a four-day week the most, as well as the positive aspects it could have on customers, employees and business owners alike.

Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers rely significantly on audiences reacting to the content they are creating across such platforms as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. If these social media users are only in the office four days a week, realistically they will have more free time during their days off to browse and engage with their favourite apps and creators, a huge bonus for influencers.

Several influencer agencies are already operating a 4-day working week, including Engage Hub, whose employees will have either a Wednesday or a Friday off, rotating every eight weeks.

Their goal is to drive forward and achieve priorities on health and wellbeing, workplace inclusion and becoming a carbon negative business.

Marketing Roles

While marketing jobs can offer higher salaries, the heavy workloads and extreme competitiveness can take their toll on employees working in the notoriously fast-paced sector. Some advertising and promotions managers regularly boast on social media about their 40, 50 or even 60 hour working weeks.

Sam O’Brien says, “Those working in marketing can have the stress of competitors and keeping up to date with the digital world, which has not been easy during the course of the pandemic. The effects of the past two years have resulted in many extra hours spent isolated, at home, and looking at computer screens while sitting in uncomfortable chairs- extremely bad for both your mental health, vision and posture.”

High Street Retailers

During the pandemic, it was believed that introducing a four-day working week would boost high street sales by an estimated £58billion.

This is because three-day weekends would give shoppers not only 20% more time to buy, but also increase spending related to hobbies, gardening and DIY.

Therefore shortened weeks could boost areas that have been hit the most-  including hospitality – as people will be able to spend more time eating out and socialising with loved ones during their extra free time with the same disposable income coming in.

E-commerce companies

Nearly all businesses rely heavily on the internet to stay afloat, providing a faster, convenient, and more efficient way of performing business transactions.

With many e-commerce sites offering services online both day and night, this means employees will be required to offer customer service support around the clock, making them feel overworked. 

Sam O’Brien says, “Starting a business takes a lot of time, energy, money, and creativity, and opting for a four-day week is one way many businesses choose to reduce expenses.”

In August 2019, Microsoft Japan implemented a four-day week giving their 2,300 employees five Fridays off in a row – and the results were a success. Productivity jumped 40%, meetings were more efficient, and workers – who were also happier – took a lot less time off.

Nine out of ten employees at the company said they preferred the shorter working week and other benefits, including a 23% reduction in weekly electricity use, and a 59% decrease in the number of pages printed by employees, which were also welcomed by employers.

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