Could you imagine if your working week ran from Monday to Thursday? For the residents of the small African nation of The Gambia this has become a reality.
The BBC reports that President Jammeh wants an extra rest day added to the week to “allow Gambians to devote more times to prayers, social activities and agriculture.”
So now, instead of working five days a week, employees in certain professions in The Gambia will clock in at 8am and clock out at 6pm on a Monday to Thursday week.
Believe it or not the four-day week is also popular in other countries. In the Netherlands, one in three men either works part-time or does their 40 hours in four days. Likewise, in the US, a lot of companies operate on a four-day week basis.
“Everything happens so fast in our industry, we think it’s important to have Fridays to recharge. We call them research days. They give people a chance to stay up on things, maybe do some independent research or spend time with their families,” said Steven Shattuck, a community manager at an SEO company in the US.
“On Monday mornings people aren’t so groggy – they hit the ground running. We have really tight deadlines, it’s very collaborative, we try to squeeze as much into our days as possible,” he added.
Mr. Shattuck maintains that the four-day week makes employees happier and the office far moe productive. He stresses that clients don’t see it as a major issue either.
Would you be happier if you only had to spend four days in the office every week?
According to Anna Coote, the head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, there are also environmental and social reasons why work hours should be reduced.
“If we worked less, there would be more jobs, and that would get people off benefits and reduce unemployment. It would also help people slow down – we are under pressure to live life at such a fast pace,” said Ms Coote.
“We need to live more sustainably, stop buying ready meals because we haven’t got time to cook, reduce the carbon footprint by commuting less, and value unpaid things – like being active citizens, caring for people, being better parents,” she added.
So what do you think? Could a four day week in the office work in Ireland? Would you be happier if you had Fridays off?
