Panasonic Moves To A Four-Day Workweek
This has been debated for years. Would a four-day workweek be better for both employers and employees? What about productivity? Would it suffer with people working one less day on…
Attendees walk by the Panasonic booth during CES 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
David Becker/Getty ImagesThis has been debated for years. Would a four-day workweek be better for both employers and employees? What about productivity? Would it suffer with people working one less day on the job each week? Are you in favor of a four-day workweek? At least one company is saying yes.
Gizmodo reports that Panasonic has seen the light and has shifted to a four-day workweek for their employees in Japan. According to Panasonic management, the move was made to “support the well-being” of their workforce. In trials, companies who’ve gone to the four-day plan have generally seen no drop in productivity, and have even see it increase, in some instances.
It’s also interesting to note that even though Japan has the stereotype of a “workaholic” culture, Japanese workers actually spend less time on the job than Americans do. On the list of countries that work the most hours, Colombia is the top, the U.S. is 11th, and Japan is 26th. So, yeah, let's bring on that four-day workweek.
