曾经被认为是遥远未来不可思议的一面, 在当代职场，四天工作制正变得越来越现实, 太阳城网赌平台的两位教员参与了一项具有里程碑意义的关于这一趋势的国际太阳城官网.
4 Day Week Global, 4dwg是一个为四天工作制支持者提供平台的非营利组织，今年早些时候开始在全球范围内为采用四天工作制不减薪模式的公司和组织开展试点项目, or were interested in doing so. More than 100 companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, 和爱尔兰已经参与了一系列为期六个月的试验. 4DWG为参与的公司提供培训和其他帮助，帮助他们建立和运行为期四天的工作周.
Juliet Schor (Lee Pellegrini)
BC Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor, who serves on the 4DWG academic board, departmental colleague Associate Professor Wen Fan, 以及都柏林大学学院教员奥拉·凯利, who holds a doctorate in sociology from BC, are assessing the results.
Released this month, 该太阳城官网的最新数据来自第一次和第二次试验, which involve nearly 33 companies—indicates a high level of satisfaction on the part of both employers and employees with the four-day week: Companies noted an improvement in productivity and growth in revenue; workers reported less stress and burnout, 对身心健康都有积极的影响.
Most significantly, 当被问及他们是否会继续使用四天模式时, “none of the companies answered ‘no’ or ‘likely no,’” according to Schor.
作为一个太阳城官网工作交集的社会经济学家, consumption, 还有气候变化——她的出版物包括1992年出版的那本书 过度工作的美国人:休闲的意外衰退-Schor认为4DWG有助于挑战长期以来关于工作/生活平衡和生产力的假设和信念.
肖尔讲述了在第一次4DWG试验中，他采访了一家公司的客户服务人员. “当我的面试对象告诉她最大的客户她周五不再工作时, the response she got was ‘Good for you!’ I think that’s emblematic of how people have changed their thinking about the nature of work; we’re at a point where the three-day weekend is now seen as more reasonable.”
Schor和Fan的团队正在领导全球数据收集工作, 并与每个国家的当地太阳城官网人员合作, 通过调查和访谈从员工那里收集信息, while companies supply administrative data. They are analyzing changes pre- and post-trial, as well as across countries and companies, employee demographics, and job types.
Wen Fan (Lee Pellegrini)
“Perhaps the most surprising finding so far,” said Fan, “is that there is no surprise, 这在学术太阳城官网中是不常见的吗. Usually, 我们会得到一些假设的支持，而另一些则被反驳, but for this project, basically everything we expect to move moves, and in the anticipated direction. Hours reduced, well-being improved, 关键的组织底线得以维持——所有这些都是在员工没有加强工作要求的情况下发生的. 我认为这是一个理想的例子，展示了精心设计的工作重新设计如何在现实世界中产生有影响力的差异.”
肖尔和范说，员工在四天工作制中保持生产力的主要原因是，公司减少或削减了工作日中有问题或低价值的活动, week-out operation. 会议——员工和管理者抱怨的传统来源——已经成为这次重组的主要目标, with personnel turning to phone calls, messaging apps, or other means of communication.
The other key to increased productivity, they noted, 四天工作周的员工是否倾向于利用第三天的假期去看医生或处理其他个人事务，否则他们会试图把这些事情塞进工作日. 员工们还报告说，他们会把额外的一天用于业余爱好和休闲活动, household work, and personal grooming, 所有这些都有助于良好的心理健康和总体生活满意度.
四天工作周给雇主带来了实实在在的好处, Schor and Fan added, include lower employee health care costs, less employee turnover, and an asset for recruiting new workers.
“Not losing highly trained individuals, in fields like health care or teaching, 压力和倦怠当然是一个有价值的目标,” said Schor, 在我们看到许多雇主都在努力填补职位空缺的时候, the four-day week can be touted as a benefit.”
The four-day week concept pre-dates 4DWG, and the project itself was launched in 2018, 但肖尔和范一致认为，COVID-19大流行——它关闭了许多工作场所，导致远程工作增加——无疑是实施该计划的一个关键因素，即使是计划外的因素.
“在新冠疫情之前，这将是一个艰难的销售——很多人会觉得这是天上掉馅饼, and not feasible for companies,” said Schor. “但大流行造成了如此程度的压力和倦怠, and led many employees to say, ‘I want to live my life differently,这为重新构想工作创造了更多的空间, as part of that, the four-day week.”
For all that, Fan said, the “traditional” 40-hour, 在许多社会中，办公室工作模式仍然根深蒂固. “Social change is always difficult, 尤其是在挑战根深蒂固的制度逻辑时, when, and where we work. 让我们希望我们不要浪费COVID危机带来的深刻的工作场所创新.”
肖尔指出，加速发展的工作场所——比如制造业, 在那些通常按小时计酬的地方，工人们会很难适应四天工作制，因为他们很难挤出效率低下的时间.“然而，随着时间的推移，随着新的时间表的正常化，他们将通过做出改变而获益.
“What companies need to understand is, you don’t focus on individual productivity, but rather the overall organization. 在COVID期间进行远程工作的雇主认识到，他们可以信任自己的员工来完成工作, and that’s what we’re saying here, too.”
For more about 4 Day Week Global, see www.4dayweek.com
肖恩·史密斯|大学传播| 2022年12月