Companies and their employees are trying to reestablish a durable model of work in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Many employees embraced “work from home,” but a number of companies have recently enacted “return to the office” mandates citing declining productivity, damage to corporate culture, a lack of mentoring, and other problems. While this tug of war continues, there is an alternative construct that is being tested successfully in some countries and actually implemented in others. It is known as the 100:80:100 approach which refers to providing employees with 100% of their previous compensation for 80% of their former time commitment while maintaining 100% of their productivity.
The new schedule generally reduces weekly hours from 40 to 36 although there are several different variations on the basic theme. One still requires a five-day week but offers flexibility as to how the reduced number of hours is spread among the workdays. Another calls for four nine-hour days which offers an additional day for non-work-related activities. And, a third model carries over the traditional work week with the addition of periodic days off at the employee’s discretion. Due to scheduling difficulties with the other two, the four-day week model seems to be the most common although some employers give workers a choice among the alternatives.
A few of the countries experimenting with four-day work weeks are Japan, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. While the results have not been rigorously analyzed, these trials anecdotally report similar results including no loss of productivity or even modest gains, better employee engagement, better work-life balance, a lower burnout rate, and less employee stress. A somewhat unexpected outcome in some countries is improved gender equity given the ability for men to become more involved in domestic roles and family life. A few companies in industries requiring continuous operation or with specific client needs report implementation challenges. Nevertheless, most of these trials are likely to result in permanent policy changes.
The poster child for the four-day workweek is Iceland which ran an experiment involving 2,500 workers from 2015 to 2019. It was so successful that 90% of employees in that country now enjoy a shorter work week although it is not mandated by law. A key to Iceland’s success is its technological infrastructure in which even rural areas benefit from high-speed connectivity facilitating remote work. An interesting thought experiment is to consider whether and how some version of this model might work in the U.S.