A four-day workweek should be tested to see if benefits outweigh costs, says Harvard Business Review article co-authored by Dr Thomas Roulet of Cambridge Judge Business School.
The idea of a four-day workweek in Europe requires proper consideration through a trial-and-error approach, says a new article in the Harvard Business Review co-authored by Dr Thomas Roulet of Cambridge Judge Business School.
Where implemented, a shorter workweek has improved staff productivity and work quality due to fewer sick days and increased wellbeing, and has reduced employee commuting.
But a four-day workweek is “not yet a silver bullet,” the article says, as many company leaders are concerned about regulations governing work contracts, staffing challenges, and bureaucracy to implement such a change.
A trial-and-error approach would “help us understand under which conditions a shorter workweek might succeed and when the benefits can outweigh the costs,” says the article.
The article – entitled “Will the four-day workweek take hold in Europe?” – is co-authored by Ben Laker, Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, and Dr Thomas Roulet, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Theory at Cambridge Judge Business School.