The concept of a four-day work week started out a few years ago as a social experiment. The concept – giving employees an extra day off each week for the same pay – sounded implausible and unrealistic.

But this week, two big tech companies are joining the movement and offering their employees a four-day work week. “I couldn’t imagine running a company any other way,” one CEO said. In our 2021 Resetting Normal research, there was overwhelming support for a more flexible working schedule in the future. Has the four-day work week finally become mainstream?

What else matters this week?

Last year was Earth’s fifth hottest on record, European scientists announced.

IBM has acquired an emissions-monitoring firm as a way to verify ESG targets through reliably tracking emissions.

Ikea is cutting sick pay for unvaccinated staff forced to self-isolate because of COVID exposure.
Shipping giant Maersk is taking a big leap forward to achieving their environmental goals. The company plans to cut emissions per transported container in half by 2030 and become net-zero by 2040.

We’ve got a full breakdown of all the top headlines you can’t miss this week.

#1. On-sites are the new off-sites.

Do you want your employees to come together in real life, at the office?

One solution: design a day your employees won’t want to miss.

As the future of work evolves, it’s important to be intentional about planning your company’s days in the office. Planning fun on-site days at your company’s space should add incentives to come into the office, so it’s worth both your company’s time and your employees’ time.

How can you build a successful off-site? Think about your company values, take professional development personally, and rely on shared rituals – or plan on creating new ones. Read more at Harvard Business Review.

 

#2. Main Street without workers?

Labour in the U.S. is growing scarcer and pricier. How can businesses keep their doors open with fewer – or no – employees? Stores are opting for cashier-less checkout options just to stay in business.

The number of people who want a new job isn’t rising quickly enough to meet demand, Axios report, but it’s not just that: COVID outbreaks can quickly cut into the worker shortage.

You may have stumbled upon Amazon’s cashier-less convenience stores over the past few years. They are one of several companies working to harness the power of AI to level up their business. Self-checkout options have also grown in popularity. Read more at Axios.

 

#3. Another company announces an optional four-day working week.

The four-day work week keeps graining traction. This week, Japanese company Panasonic announced an optional four-day work week for their employees. The move will allow workers to spend less time working – and more time volunteering, spending time with family, furthering their studies, or even picking up a side job, according to Panasonic CEO Kusumi Yuki. Read more at Mashable.

The move comes after tech start-up Bolt announced their move to a four-day work week last week. The company said they first piloted the program last fall, and found the results were overwhelmingly positive. “I couldn’t imagine running a company any other way,” CEO Ryan Breslow told CNBC. The company found some overwhelming benefits to the extended weekend, including streamlined work processes, happier employees, and greater productivity. Internal data found that 94% of workers and 91% of managers wanted to program to continue following the trail, and nearly 90% of both workers and managers reported greater productivity as a result. Read more at CNBC.

 

#4. Companies are rethinking what it takes to be a leader.

For the past two years, workers have traded office desks for couches. Colleagues have become tiny instant message avatars. One workers have had to manage a shocking change: reconsidering their basic assumptions about how people treat each other in work environments.

As people’s work routines have been upended, those workers have begun to question their work environments, from the unpleasantness at work to the indignities they used to shrug off. Some are standing up and saying: no more working for jerks. Employees no longer have patience for bosses who demand responses on Slack all hours of the night, or bosses that accuse employees of “stealing” for putting in too few working hours. Read more at the New York Times.

#5. It’s time to remove the stigma from hybrid working.

Will flexible working act as the great equaliser over the long term?
Alex Fleming, Regional President of Northern Europe for Adecco, says there’s a real danger that those who opt to work from home will miss out on social capital – and it shouldn’t be this way.

Flexibility can offer inclusivity, but it can also create inequality.

Research shows that across the globe, employees believe flexible working is beneficial for those with disabilities (75%), working parents (73%) and people from diverse backgrounds (69%). Flexible working models don’t ensure that those with different preferences and needs automatically are recognized. Read more at HR Review.