Should we work 5 days a week?

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The idea of having less working time sounds bliss to the majority of people. Less working time would be adopting a 4-day work week, which prioritizes our well-being and promotes work balance. Some believe that it would result in a wreck of our economy, but at the end of the day which is more important; our health or our precious economy, which is also run by us.

Reducing the working week to 4 days permits an improvement in mental health, which in turn leads to increased productivity at work. To carry out a task, a person must feel energized- to feel energized, a person must have breaks. Oxford’s research (published in 2019) with BT indicates that people are 13% more productive when they are happy and relaxed; meaning more work gets accomplished. This allows people to look forward to their jobs knowing they’ve had enough time to recover from the stress their work embodies. It greatly prevents the undermining of passion felt by the employees for their jobs. Dr Miriam Marra of the University of Reading undertook research in 2019 with her colleagues, whereby they surveyed companies who have adopted the 4-day working system. They have seen that businesses were 64% more productive. Microsoft Japan admitted that there was an impressive 40% increase in the productivity of their employees compared to the previous year, which was August 2018.

Not only is their passion retained, but it ameliorates work balance. There are only 2 days of the week left to rest. However, in some public service jobs like healthcare and policing, they are needed to work on those days that are meant for rest. They are unable to function effectively due to their constant workload. In 2016, the WHO estimated 750,000 global deaths due to overworking and burdensome workloads. If we overwork ourselves to death, who is going to be able to do the work? Who would be able to improve the economy that is believed to turn ‘a wreck’ because of reduced working days? The weekend came about due to the acknowledgement by the 19th century workers of the need to rest. If we are meant to grow stronger intellectually as time goes by, why can’t we also identify that 2 days aren’t enough for rest? Employees also receive pressure from their managers or business leaders, who set unrealistic or inconsiderate work targets. This could lead them to work overtime even when they aren’t paid, just to meet these expectations.

Some argue that this could cause our economy to go into a state of wreck. Working only 4 days a week would mean less work being done for some jobs. For instance, construction workers might not complete their projects on time. There might also be an increase in work hours, which can cause them to be tired and work inadequately. This would affect the public as we would have inadequate infrastructure like roads or buildings. It is also unrealistic as this 4-day system could affect small businesses and public services like nursing and teaching. This would also lead to another argument on whether schools should do the same. Since there are shorter working days, there would be a decrease in the availability of leave. Fridays already take up the chances of longer leaves as there is now more chance to rest.

However, that idea is false as there are alternatives that can be made to make it fair for everyone. In terms of wrecking the economy, the research done by Dr Marra presents that people have said they would go shopping, watch a movie at the cinema, or go to a restaurant. This boosts the high-street economy. For public services, there can be an arrangement of shifts or emergency units where people can choose what day to come in and when to not. The emergency units could be split into two whereby the teams rotate who works on which week/day off. Moreover, the Covid-19 lockdown showcased that anything can be possible. It is considered that that was a totally different situation, but some companies never allowed their employees to work remotely. Covid changed that; as nations, we were able to come up with something that worked for everyone despite the great difficulty.

We are called human beings for a reason; sometimes it’s okay to just exist and be still rather than engaging in suffocating hustling all the time. There is no doubt that there might be some difficulties, but our health is vital just as much as our economy.