Otago University Business School Associate Professor Paula O'Kane says new research which shows a four-day work week is linked to improved employee wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Working a four-day week reduces burnout and improves job satisfaction, a new study has found.
The research out of Boston College in the United States tested the effect of reducing employees’ hours to a four-day week with no reduction in pay.
The study held six-month trials reducing the working hours for 2896 employees across 141 organisations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the US.
The outcomes of the trials were then compared with 12 control companies that did not transition to the shorter work week.
The researchers found that employees with a reduction of eight hours or more per work week self-reported larger reductions in burnout and improvements in job satisfaction and mental health, as compared with those at companies that maintained a five-day work week.
A small change in physical health was also seen, but the researchers said they expected this was less significant because changes in physical health take time to manifest.
Paula O'Kane, from Otago University's business school, says global research shows work structures need a rethink. Photo / Dave Bull
Paula O’Kane, from Otago University’s business school, said it was good to see growing evidence that reductions in working hours could significantly affect wellbeing, reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction.
“While the study centred on a four-day week, the broader implication is clear: flexible and potentially individualised working arrangements can deliver similar benefits,” she said.
O’Kane said research globally was showing that work structures needed a rethink.
“Traditionally, time spent working is used as a proxy for productivity, when in fact better-rested and healthier people can be more productive in less time,” she said.
“It would be really good to think about output-based measures of production and productivity - making sure that we understand what it is we want our employees to do in a week rather than how much time we want them to spend at work,” O’Kane said.
She said the traditional 9-5 did not work for everyone and there was a growing body of evidence that non-traditional models of working werebetter for people.
She said it was also already clear that the younger generation would be demanding more flexibility.
“If we look at the students that are coming through university and looking at how they operate their lives, they are going to want flexibility,” she said. “We can see it already, they’re not going to accept the traditional structures.”
She said organisations would have to start thinking about organising work structures differently if they wanted to keep attracting top talent in the future.
