Are Indian Start-Ups Ready for a 4-Day Work Week

Are Indian Start-Ups Ready for a 4-Day Work Week?

Indian start-ups have two key issues- employee attrition and productivity.

Some start-ups are trying a 4-day workweek and this seems to work. This phenomenon is going to catch up.

Is India ready for it?

Some countries are already doing it. The Netherlands has started a 4-day work week or less than 40 hours working in a week. France, Germany, and Denmark have started implementing it and everybody seems to be happy. And in some cases, productivity has jumped by 40 %.

  • Due to a 4-day workweek, in Iceland, workers reported less stress (between 2015-2019) burnout and major improvement in their work-life balance.
  • In 2019, Microsoft tested a 4-day work-week in Japan. They found that productivity, measured as sales per employee, went up by 40 % And 90 % of employees liked the change.
  • A new Zealand firm tested this policy in 2018. Due to reduced stress and better employee engagement , they have permanently adopted the Policy.
  • During the second wave of pandemic, Indian companies like Swiggy, ad agencies like DDB Mudra and Mullenlowe Lintas also started a 4-day work-week and reported good results.

Another cyber security firm TAC security has permanently adopted 4-day work-week

I believe that a 4-day work week will be a great boon to the Start-up ecosystem in India.

Let’s see some pros and cons of a 4-day workweek:

Pros

A. 3-day weekend. You could also have another mid-week off like Wednesday.

Working only for 4 days will have a different psychological impact on resources and employees will automatically get tuned to the habit of working professionally for it.
Long breaks will get reduced to short ones.

Apart from this, there is admin cost which company is going to save like electricity, internet usage etc.

Employees will pack more efficiency into their 32-hour weeks by conducting more remote conference calls, while also printing far less material at the office — a cost-saving for the company.

B. Time for family

Microsoft gave special paid leave to workers to account for their fifth day, but also subsidized expenses employees incurred for volunteering, taking classes or taking family trips. The result: Productivity rose 40%.

You can always argue that the culture in Japan is different than in India, but human emotions will not change dramatically.

C. Time for play/other activities

Having every Friday off to do things like shop, pay bills, do your banking, buy groceries, see a movie etc. is very convenient and often a lot less busy – because most other people are at work.

Cons

A. You have to work for 2 hours more every day. This may not be an issue as most start-ups work crazy hours anyway.

B. Your work week and leaves may not coincide with your friends/family.

C. You may not be able to plan any other activity on a workday, unlike a 5-day work weekday.

India is going to be a start-up country. And a 4-day work week may be the booster shot they need after the pandemic.

What do you think? I want your opinion to start this conversation.


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Hemant Mishrra

About the author: Hemant is the Founder & CEO of branding and marketing firm ”Neeti Brand Accelerator” in Mumbai. He is a brand strategist and has worked with more than 150 brands during last two decades. He is also mentor and coach to SMEs and startups. You can visit the website www.www.neeti.biz. You can also contact him at hemant@neeti.biz

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