The four-day work week was something of an HR musing just two years ago. Now, since the chaos and disruption of the pandemic, it seems zany new ways of working are all the rage. 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit community established by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart, advocates the reduced working week, encouraging businesses to give the strategy a trial run. And while it’s receiving a lot of support from employers and employees, it’s still pretty divisive in HR circles.
And, for Garcia at least, she’s convinced it’s doomed to fail.
“The four-day workweek will fail,” she told HRD. “At least for the modern-day worker who’s been really clear about requesting the flexibility to work hard and be successful in their personal lives. You can’t always get doctor appointments, school performances and that meditation class you’ve desperately needed on the same day each week.”
This preference for flexibility has always been there, however the pandemic turned this ‘nice to have’ into a necessity. Employees are actively leaving their current roles in search for more flexible ones, candidates are only looking for employers that allow total flexibility. In fact, a report from Gartner found that 59% of employees say they’d only consider a new position or job that allows them to work from a location of their choice.