If wishes were horses, beggars would ride and employees would have a shortened workweek and a longer weekend.
The four day workweek module has been adopted in Belgium and The United Arab Emirates and is being piloted in Scotland, Spain, Japan, and Iceland.
Belgium, the latest country to approve this, passed sweeping labor regulations where workers can request a 4-day workweek and as well snob work-related emails or calls outside the work hours (the right to disconnect).
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have been rethinking work. New working arrangements like fully remote and hybrid working have become the norm. The watchword has been work-life balance. Now, the 4-day workweek (read 3-day weekend) is a surefire to solve this quest.
In Kenya, presidential aspirant, Prof. George Wajackoyah is hoping to entice the kenyan workforce with a 4-day workweek. How overambitious? Well, most think solving unemployment would be the perfect place to begin. But then, work-life balance cannot be wished away. In a similar manner, much of these employment reforms exists in the fantasies of politicians, or on paper at best.
One certainty is that human labor must change to fit the present. The focus of these new work models is utilizing human productivity. At the same time, employers will mull making up for the lost workday. With this, some have resorted to a shortened workweek but with longer working hours. The case for an abridged workweek has shown that productivity may not necessarily mean putting in more hours.
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Should the plan sail through, then the employee is the winner – retaining compensation and some relief from the grind. The work world must match up to fit with today’s employee behavior and social trends.
As much as these winds of change might take time before they blow across Kenya, the future of work is a 3-day weekend. What do you think?
