The pandemic has caused a surprising turn of events in the workplace. Teleworking —or at least, hybrid work— has become one of the great aspirations of many professionals, and the four-day week is beginning to be talked about as a real possibility for the future. If we had to choose a day of the week to not have to work, what would you choose?
Friday. A recent study by Kastle Systems cited in The Washington Post reveals the percentage of employees who came to the office each weekday in June 2022. Monday was lazy (just 41%), while Tuesday was the busiest day (50%), but if there is a day when workers do not go to the office, it is Friday: only 30% did.
Thursday. In fact, the trend has already come a long way. Peter Cappelli, from the University of Pennsylvania, explained that “even before the pandemic, people thought of Friday as a kind of goodbye day. And now there is a growing expectation that you can telecommute on that day to advance your weekend “. In fact, he added, “It’s becoming a bit of a cultural norm. You know no one else is going to be in the office on Friday, so maybe you’re telecommuting that day, too.”
It also happens in Spain. Many companies apply a work week in which Friday is a more relaxed day. Working half an hour or an hour more from Monday to Thursday to be able to leave earlier on Friday is also quite common.
Banco Santander or Iberdrola, for example, are two of the large companies that, at least in the past, had that flexible working day that, for example, allowed you to avoid traffic jams on Fridays and start the weekend earlier because you had already “advanced” hours the previous days in home or at work. It is the famous Belgian week.
Charged batteries. American companies and startups like Bolt began experimenting with Friday-free weeks (either in or out of the office) last summer and did so well that they fully implemented the four-day work week this January (and They are not the only ones, far from it).
Employees were more productive than ever and returned to the office on Mondays with their batteries recharged. As one of those responsible for the measure explained, “We continue to do our job. The bosses supported the measure, and the people continued to achieve their goals. And they came back on Mondays with energy and more committed.”
Food trucks to attract staff. Other companies seem more reluctant to apply that measure and practice just the opposite, trying to take measures to make Fridays attractive to go to the office. For example, with food trucks, social gatherings, and free food and drink (but no shots).
Bosses who want you to go, but let you be less productive. Companies like Online Optimism have managed to get 80% of their employees to end up going on those days when the company invites them to eat, and its CEO, Flynn Zaiger, explained that “honestly, the best day to socialize is Friday. Why Why not have a beer or two? If people are going to be a little less productive on one day of the week, I’d rather it be Friday than Monday.”
Why go to the office if you are going to be alone?. Lenny Beaudoin, from the real estate company CBRE, pointed out another factor: “Why am I going to make the trip to the office if then I am going to be connected to Zoom as I would at home?” Part of what people who are in the office want is to be able to be with their co-workers, and in fact applications are emerging that precisely show which employees will be there each day and what events are taking place so that they can decide whether it is worth going that day or not. other. “Just as no one wants to eat in an empty restaurant, no one wants to go to an empty office.”
Image | Adolf Felix
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism