Since March, my friend in Jakarta, Indonesia, has been employed on a four-day workweek schedule, providing him with an additional free day each week to spend with his family.
Following a successful pilot, Indonesia’s Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises introduced an optional compressed work schedule featuring a four-day workweek. Under this scheme, employees put in 10-hour days rather than the standard eight hours for five days, all while sustaining their typical output levels.
This model maintains the same total working hours and salary, unlike a shortened workweek.
A four-day workweek isn’t an entirely novel idea; it originates from the “leisure society” notion, which was initially debated in industrially advanced countries during the 1960s and 1970s.
Interest peaked following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with companies embracing technological solutions to maintain output levels amid shifts towards remote work and condensed working hours.
More than two dozen nations such as Poland, Canada, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea have either adopted or experimented with a shortened four-day workweek.
In Australia, Green Party Senator Barbara Pocock has recently suggested establishing a National Four-Day Workweek Institute to explore reduced workweeks with full-time hours. According to her, Australians should have an additional guaranteed day off each week without experiencing a decrease in their salary. She believes this change could result in “more content, well-rested, and efficient employees.”
To address workplace stress and burnout, Japan is implementing changes. Starting from April 2025, civil servants will enjoy three-day weekends, providing parents with additional time for child care and possibly increasing birth rates.
Early results are promising.
In 2023, research conducted by scholars at the University of Cambridge based in the U.K. revealed positive outcomes from adopting a four-day workweek for employees’ well-being. Among the 61 firms involved in this study, 56 experienced an increase in their revenue averaging about 1.4 percent.
In Iceland, a four-year pilot project eventually resulted in 90% of employees maintaining their wages even as they worked reduced hours.
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An individual is working inside an office. Stock image courtesy of Pexels. |
However, a condensed work schedule may not be appropriate for all sectors.
Businesses focused on consulting and customer service, which depend heavily on client interactions, might face challenges as clients could require support during this extra day off.
This model cannot be adopted by every country. It is primarily being tested by economically advanced nations, with numerous ones still in initial trial stages.
Studies from Vietnam and international sources indicate growing interest in adopting a four-day workweek to enhance work-life equilibrium.
Flexa, a job-search platform, analyzed 9,360 job ads, 2.7 million searches, and 27,880 worker preferences from January to November 2023. Interest in four-day workweeks increased by 68%, making it a top 2024 trend. A February 2023 Milieu Insight survey found that 78% of Vietnamese respondents supported shorter workweeks.
Vietnam encounters significant hurdles when implementing this policy. A large number of enterprises are either small-scale or heavily reliant on manual labor, with limited effectiveness in areas such as managerial practices, technological application, and process improvement.
Primarily, Vietnam’s labor productivity has yet to reach the level of global benchmarks.
Each nation aims to enhance their populace’s psychological well-being, overall living standards, and efficiency, and Vietnam is no different. However, what strategies can Vietnam employ to reach these goals?
Adaptable work arrangements such as telecommuting, combined office-home schedules, and priority-based remote systems enable staff members to juggle their professional commitments and private lives effectively without compromising efficiency.
Firms have to understand that merely shortening the workweek won’t ensure success; they require more intelligent working approaches.
Some industries, like crisis management, public relations and media, require workers to be available 24/7.
If businesses focus more on the number of hours employees work rather than their output, this can lead to decreased engagement and productivity among staff members.
A more effective strategy would be to grant employees greater autonomy over their work schedules. Supervisors ought to evaluate staff members according to their performance outcomes and then modify communication approaches as needed.
In the end, the effectiveness of a four-day workweek relies on the mutual trust and openness between bosses and staff.
Positively, both Vietnamese companies and those around the world are giving greater importance to their employees’ well-being.
Should Vietnamese businesses adopt technology, optimize processes, and enhance management practices, they might realize the potential of reduced working weeks.
A workforce that is adequately supported tends to be more engaged, which contributes to the long-term success of a business.
*Nguyen Thi Hong Chi is employed at the Faculty of Communication within Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture.
