如果改为四天工作制,不仅能够让员工保持头脑清醒,对双薪家庭来说,还意味着每年可以省掉数千美元的育儿和通勤费用。
上述计算结果来自总部位于英国伦敦的左倾智库Autonomy,其研究重点是未来的工作。根据Autonomy向《卫报》(The Guardian)提供的数据,在英国,对于有一个两岁以下孩子的打工人来说,如果每周能够少去一天办公室,平均每年就可以节省1,440英镑的育儿费和340英镑的通勤费。
该智库根据其2019年对2,000名英国员工的调查计算出了年度平均通勤成本——1,700英镑。代表了550万英国工人的英国工会联盟(Trades Union Congress)在2021年的数据显示,一个独生子女家庭的年均育儿费用为7,200英镑。
根据上述研究,四天工作制有助于员工应对创下历史纪录的超高生活成本。Autonomy的研究主管威尔·斯特朗在接受《卫报》采访时说:“未来几年,如果实施不减薪的四天工作制,就将在支持员工维持收支平衡方面发挥关键作用。”
上述发现对美国也有参考意义,因为美国数以百万计的工人也在经历通货膨胀。今年7月,仅食品价格一项就同比飙升了10.9%,这是自1979年以来的最大涨幅。根据GoBankingRates最近的一项调查,这也是三分之二的美国人之所以因为通货膨胀而感到压力的部分原因,超过一半的人担心月度支出和生活成本难以维系。
雪上加霜的是,只有31%的美国人获得了生活成本加薪以应对通货膨胀。哪怕部分员工今年涨了工资,他们的收入仍然在减少,因为加薪幅度没有跟上通货膨胀的速度。
四天制是未来
Autonomy为英国的首个四天工作制活动提供了直接支持。拥有大约3,300名员工的73家公司参与了这个为期六个月的开创性项目。
到目前为止,人们对四天制完全满意。在实行四天工作制的73家公司中,近九成(88%)的领导者表示,转变一切顺利。
在今年8月接受美国有线电视新闻网商业频道(CNN Business)采访时,在位于肯特郡的慈善银行(Charity Bank)工作的莉萨·吉尔伯特称,该公司参加了这个试点活动后,她的新日程安排“令人惊叹”。她补充道,周五不上班让她的工作和生活都发生了翻天覆地的变化。“我发现我现在经常说:‘没错,我们可以。’而不是‘不,对不起,我们不能。’”
全球成百上千万每周工作五天的打工人都对吉尔伯特的日程表示羡慕。大多数美国人表示,如果公司每周工作四天,他们一定支持。但正如Qualtrics的首席人事官朱莉娅·阿纳斯为《财富》杂志供稿中所述,如果公司无法支持员工实现更好的平衡性和灵活性,仅仅取消周五是无法满足员工需求的。
事实上,并不是英国每一家试点公司都平稳顺滑地实现了向四天工作周的转变。公关公司Unity的董事总经理萨曼莎·洛西在接受美国有线电视新闻网商业频道采访时称,在一开始的一系列矛盾和误会中,她最初觉得自己“犯了一个巨大的错误”。尽管她的团队已经在稳步调整,但她怀疑,等实验结束后,如果维持四天工作制,生产率能否保持足够高的水平来为这种解决方案正名。
但非营利组织4 Day Week Global的项目总监方洙正(Alex Soojung-Kim Pang)今年5月告诉《财富》杂志,这样做利大于弊。4 Day Week Global的主要工作是为企业提供向四天工作周转变的咨询建议。
“四天工作周的可行性、实用性和好处已经无需怀疑。”方洙正说,“许多公司都做到了,并且因此而获益。”(财富中文网)
译者:Agatha
如果改为四天工作制,不仅能够让员工保持头脑清醒,对双薪家庭来说,还意味着每年可以省掉数千美元的育儿和通勤费用。
上述计算结果来自总部位于英国伦敦的左倾智库Autonomy,其研究重点是未来的工作。根据Autonomy向《卫报》(The Guardian)提供的数据,在英国,对于有一个两岁以下孩子的打工人来说,如果每周能够少去一天办公室,平均每年就可以节省1,440英镑的育儿费和340英镑的通勤费。
该智库根据其2019年对2,000名英国员工的调查计算出了年度平均通勤成本——1,700英镑。代表了550万英国工人的英国工会联盟(Trades Union Congress)在2021年的数据显示,一个独生子女家庭的年均育儿费用为7,200英镑。
根据上述研究,四天工作制有助于员工应对创下历史纪录的超高生活成本。Autonomy的研究主管威尔·斯特朗在接受《卫报》采访时说:“未来几年,如果实施不减薪的四天工作制,就将在支持员工维持收支平衡方面发挥关键作用。”
上述发现对美国也有参考意义,因为美国数以百万计的工人也在经历通货膨胀。今年7月,仅食品价格一项就同比飙升了10.9%,这是自1979年以来的最大涨幅。根据GoBankingRates最近的一项调查,这也是三分之二的美国人之所以因为通货膨胀而感到压力的部分原因,超过一半的人担心月度支出和生活成本难以维系。
雪上加霜的是,只有31%的美国人获得了生活成本加薪以应对通货膨胀。哪怕部分员工今年涨了工资,他们的收入仍然在减少,因为加薪幅度没有跟上通货膨胀的速度。
四天制是未来
Autonomy为英国的首个四天工作制活动提供了直接支持。拥有大约3,300名员工的73家公司参与了这个为期六个月的开创性项目。
到目前为止,人们对四天制完全满意。在实行四天工作制的73家公司中,近九成(88%)的领导者表示,转变一切顺利。
在今年8月接受美国有线电视新闻网商业频道(CNN Business)采访时,在位于肯特郡的慈善银行(Charity Bank)工作的莉萨·吉尔伯特称,该公司参加了这个试点活动后,她的新日程安排“令人惊叹”。她补充道,周五不上班让她的工作和生活都发生了翻天覆地的变化。“我发现我现在经常说:‘没错,我们可以。’而不是‘不,对不起,我们不能。’”
全球成百上千万每周工作五天的打工人都对吉尔伯特的日程表示羡慕。大多数美国人表示,如果公司每周工作四天,他们一定支持。但正如Qualtrics的首席人事官朱莉娅·阿纳斯为《财富》杂志供稿中所述,如果公司无法支持员工实现更好的平衡性和灵活性,仅仅取消周五是无法满足员工需求的。
事实上,并不是英国每一家试点公司都平稳顺滑地实现了向四天工作周的转变。公关公司Unity的董事总经理萨曼莎·洛西在接受美国有线电视新闻网商业频道采访时称,在一开始的一系列矛盾和误会中,她最初觉得自己“犯了一个巨大的错误”。尽管她的团队已经在稳步调整,但她怀疑,等实验结束后,如果维持四天工作制,生产率能否保持足够高的水平来为这种解决方案正名。
但非营利组织4 Day Week Global的项目总监方洙正(Alex Soojung-Kim Pang)今年5月告诉《财富》杂志,这样做利大于弊。4 Day Week Global的主要工作是为企业提供向四天工作周转变的咨询建议。
“四天工作周的可行性、实用性和好处已经无需怀疑。”方洙正说,“许多公司都做到了,并且因此而获益。”(财富中文网)
译者:Agatha
Transitioning to a four-day workweek could save workers more than just their sanity—for working parents, it could mean saving thousands per year in childcare and commuting costs.
That calculation comes from Autonomy, a left-leaning London-based think tank whose research focuses on the future of work. A U.K.-based working parent with a child younger than two would stand to save an average of £1,440 in childcare and £340 from commuting per year if they were relieved of just one day a week of heading to the office, according to data Autonomy provided The Guardian.
The think tank calculated the average cost of a commute—£1,700—based on their 2019 survey of 2,000 U.K. workers. Their average annual childcare cost for a one-child family—£7,200 —came from 2021 data from the Trades Union Congress, which represents 5.5 million U.K. workers.
The findings indicate a four-day workweek could help workers grappling with the record-high cost of living. “A four-day week with no loss of pay could play a crucial role in supporting workers to make ends meet over the next few years,” Autonomy’s research director, Will Stronge, told The Guardian.
It could have implications for the U.S., where millions of workers are also experiencing inflation. In July, food costs alone skyrocketed 10.9% year-over-year—the most since 1979. It’s partly why two-thirds of Americans are stressed about inflation, per a recent GoBankingRates survey, with more than half worried about untenable monthly expenses and the cost of living.
To add insult to injury, only 31% of Americans received a cost-of-living pay increase to combat inflation. Even some workers who did see salary bumps this year are still earning less because their raise didn’t keep up with inflation.
The future is four
Autonomy is directly supporting the U.K.’s inaugural 4-Day Week campaign. Seventy-three companies, which employ about 3,300 workers, are part of the groundbreaking six-month program.
So far, people are totally loving it. Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of leaders at those 73 companies who moved to four-day schedules said the transition was going well.
In an interview in August with CNN Business, Lisa Gilbert, an employee at Kent-based Charity Bank that’s partaking in the pilot program, called her new schedule “phenomenal.: She added that free Fridays have made all the difference in both work and life. “I find that I’m saying, ‘Yes, we can’ as opposed to ‘No, sorry, we can’t.’”
Millions of five-days-a-week workers around the globe envy Gilbert’s schedule. The majority of Americans said they’d support a four-day workweek at their company. But as Julia Anas, Qualtrics’ chief people officer wrote for Fortune, simply getting rid of Fridays won’t meet employees’ needs if the workplace doesn’t support better balance and flexibility altogether.
Indeed, not every company in the U.K. trial transitioned to four-day workweeks seamlessly. Amid early scheduling mishaps and miscommunications at PR firm Unity, managing director Samantha Losey told CNN Business she initially felt she’d “made a huge error. Though her team has steadily adjusted, she’s doubtful productivity will stay sufficiently high to justify a permanent four-day solution after the experiment concludes.
But Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, program director at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit that advises companies on transitioning to four-day workweeks, told Fortune in May that the benefits outweigh the cons.
“The viability, practicality and benefits of the four-day week are no longer up for dispute,” Pang said. “Many companies have made it work—and have done so profitably.”