20 companies to switch to a 4 day work week across Australia and New Zealand
Ahead of this week’s Australian federal election, described by one major news outlet as the “don’t-talk-about-climate-change election”, 20 companies in Australia and New Zealand are taking matters into their own hands by embarking on a climate-friendly 4 day week. The organisations will kick off a six-month reduced working time pilot in August, with the Australasian trial, run by 4 Day Week Global, giving employees an extra day off per week with no loss of pay. This is based on the 100:80:100™ model where workers get 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.
A key benefit of the 4 day week is that it is better for the environment, as 4 Day Week Global research partner Professor Juliet Schor explained in her recent TED talk. The principle of giving all staff a weekly day off – whether the same day for everyone or staggered across the workforce – is that it cuts overall company commuting by 20 percent, and correspondingly reduces energy expenditure in the workplace, resulting in a lowered carbon footprint for any business operating on a 4 day week.
The pioneering organisations preparing for the trial provide services across a diverse range of industries, from finance to fashion. They include:
· Technology firm Our Community;
· Marketing and communications agency The Walk;
· Education and business consultancy Haemata Limited;
· Finance company More Than Mortgages;
· Health and well-being organisation Momentum Mental Health;
· And others in the technology, healthcare, construction and retail sectors.
These organisations moved to embrace reduced-hour, productivity-focused working after attending a series of online information sessions hosted by 4 Day Week Global. Many others are expected to make the move this year. Participating companies will have access to a package of support offered through the pilot programme, including workshops delivered by international 4 day week experts and pioneers, mentoring by 4 day week business leaders, networking with other pilot companies and access to world-class academic research. The pilot will be followed by researchers at Auckland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Sydney and Boston College.
The Australian social entrepreneurship body Our Community is among the companies embarking on the trial in August. It creates and disseminates practical, affordable training, leadership and technological solutions that allow not-for-profit and grant-making organisations to get on with the crucial work of building stronger communities.
Our Community CEO Denis Moriarty says, “Our Community has been a traditional office-based company and with what we have learned in the past two years, we are now in a position to implement changes, trust employees to maintain productivity and make sure work-life balance is supported. Most of all, we are responding to the shift we are seeing with employees having more of a voice about what they want work to look like in the future.
“Companies cannot grow, achieve social impact or reach amazing valuations and new heights without their staff. It's time we as leaders find ways to return some of this investment to them, not just in wages, bonuses and equity, but with time, so they can use the rest of those things to build a life they love.”
Andrew Barnes, the entrepreneur who conceived the 4 day week and went on to establish 4 Day Week Global, says the climate crisis cannot be solved without a revolutionary, global change in how people work. “We recognised well before the pandemic that the five-day week is no longer fit for purpose, and as we trialed and studied the 4 day week it became clear that this is a necessary part of the solution to restore climate balance, among many other documented benefits. We simply cannot go on as we have been, and we welcome the forward-thinking companies and business leaders in Australasia who are driving this change and showing the path forward.”
Charlotte Lockhart, managing director and founder of 4 Day Week Global, highlighted the significance of the milestone: “This is a crucial first step in Australia and New Zealand to begin a South Pacific conversation on the future of work and the 4 day week, following the advances made by companies in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and beyond. It’s very exciting to see these organisations demonstrating leadership by supporting their employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance while maintaining and even raising productivity.”
Professor John Quiggin of the School of Economics at the University of Queensland is one of the academics who will be tracking the success of the Australasian pilot. He welcomed the enthusiasm shown for it to date: “The 4 day working week is an idea whose time has come. Experimentation will be needed to see how best to implement a shorter working week, and the recruitment of the first 20 companies to the 4 Day Week Global Australasian pilot study is an important step towards this goal, providing valuable evidence.”
Professor John Buchanan of the University of Sydney Business School says, “In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Australia pioneered reductions in the length of the working day and working week. It is really exciting that we could be re-discovering a spirit of genuine innovation and social progress in this part of the world. Researchers at the Universities of Sydney and Queensland and Auckland University of Technology are partnering with the trial of the 4 day week in Australasia to ensure we learn from the best of what the pathfinders discover and avoid repeating any mistakes they make.”
Employers or employees interested in participating in the Australasian pilot can find more information here.
