The 4-day workweek and an economy that favors the welfare of workers

A few weeks ago, the striking results of a survey of Canadian workers were widely spread on the Internet. According to the sounding carried out on behalf ofJob search siteAnd 95% of Quebecers are interested in a four-day work week. However, this question was addressed by IRIS 7 years ago.

Indeed, in Five projects to change Quebec, published in 2016, IRIS proposed, among other things, to reduce the normal working week from 40 hours to 32 hours in 4 years, without losing wages. The aim of this measure was to improve the welfare of the workers. In fact, by working 40 hours a week, the rest of the available time is generally occupied with childcare, meal preparation, housework, travel and sleep, leaving people with little time to catch their breath and take care of themselves. We argued the hypothesis, at the time, that reducing the workweek would have the effect of redistributing productivity gains to employees by giving them back time when they can act as they like.

Since IRIS brought this proposal to Quebec, many pilot projects have been implemented around the world. For example, in November 2018, permanent guardianInc., a New Zealand financial services company, has reduced the work week for its 240 employees from five to four days, while maintaining their wages. there Productivity increased over the four days I worked, so there was no decrease in the total amount of work done.

Recently, during the second half of 2022, the 4-day workweek was implemented in 61 companies with a total of around 2,900 employees in the UK, making it the largest pilot trial on the issue. At the end of the pilot project, the vast majority of participating companies decided to continue with the reduced hours.

Unsurprisingly, most employees were less stressed and felt they had a better work-life balance. 71% experienced less burnout, 39% less stress, and 48% reported greater job satisfaction than before.

John Maynard Keynes predicted in the 1930s that his descendants would work only 15 hours a week on Mondays and Tuesdays, and then take a five-day weekend. If this expectation is far from fulfilled, then culturally it would seem that the reduction of working time has returned to the collective imagination. The results of the British pilot project, like others undertaken elsewhere, show that Keynes’ error was not based on a miscalculation of productivity growth: rather he miscalculated the inability of capitalists and politicians to adequately consider the redistribution of productivity gains. However, the shock caused by the pandemic has made it more acceptable for employers to organize working time that better meets workers’ needs. Thus, it is up to them to seize this opportunity to move forward with a project that will make Quebec’s economy something that works a little more for their well-being.