A recent survey from JLL has found that nearly three-fourths of office workers support a four-day workweek.
These findings follow the mass adoption of flexible and remote working during the ongoing pandemic. Office workers hope the last several months will lead to permanent changes.
The demand for increased flexibility at work has been shaping the workplace for years now, but 2020 has accelerated these changes quicker than expected.
Companies have also had little choice in the matter as many scrambled to find new ways to operate while keeping employees safe. This has allowed organizations to focus on measuring productivity and improve their work arrangements to keep workers engaged.
For instance, Google leaders noted a dip in productivity among junior-level employees during the beginning of the pandemic, so the company created coaching programs to help workers adjust.
“With this grand global experiment on productivity and everyone working from home, we’re still able to conduct business,” said Cynthia Kantor, chief product officer at JLL. “You see it in the data that there are far less people in an office on Fridays. That’s been true for many years in many different industries.”
Kantor added that the “always-on” mentality is hurting the well-being of workers, and looking beyond a traditional 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule could help support them.
