In response, some companies are rethinking the standard five-day workweek — testing out, and in some cases, fully embracing, a four-day workweek.
As you might guess, employees are all about this idea, with one survey reporting that 98% of respondents believe a four-day workweek would improve their mental health and 97% saying that they'd be more productive.
To get that four-day workweek, most employees say they're willing to put in four, 10-hour days — but that may not be necessary. Some companies (including several below), are offering standard, eight-hour work days and four-day workweeks, only requiring employees to work a total of 32 hours a week.
“In today’s changing work landscape, it’s no surprise shorter workweeks are getting so much attention,” said FlexJobs Career Development Manager Brie Reynolds in a press release. “When we think about the future of work, this sentiment signals the importance of healthy work-life balance and the role job flexibility plays in achieving it."
These 12 companies, which also happen to hire remote workers, are leading the charge:
- DNSFilter has long hired for remote roles, like digital marketing specialist and sales operations manager, to help run the company, which offers cloud-based web-content filtering and threat protection. DNSFilter has also tested, and now implemented, a rotating four-day workweek where team members get every other Friday off.
- Buffer, a social media management and software company, may be headquartered in San Francisco, but they also hire remote. Early on in the pandemic (May 2020), they started offering employees a four-day workweek, and almost two years later, 91% of team members say they're happier and more productive.
- ThreadUp. This online clothing-exchange community has recently hired a remote revenue manager and a VP of people operations and total rewards. In addition to flexible PTO and competitive salaries, thredUp started offering a four-day workweek in 2021 and hasn't looked back.