Working 9 To 2 -- Will We Go To a 5-Hour Workday?

 

Work (What are we set on earth for? ...)

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1853)

WHAT are we set on earth for ? Say, to toil;
Nor seek to leave thy tending of the vines
For all the heat o' the day, till it declines,
And Death's mild curfew shall from work assoil.
God did anoint thee with his odorous oil,
To wrestle, not to reign; and He assigns
All thy tears over, like pure crystallines,
For younger fellow-workers of the soil
To wear for amulets. So others shall
Take patience, labor, to their heart and hand

From thy hand and thy heart and thy brave cheer,
And God's grace fructify through thee to
The least flower with a brimming cup may stand,
And share its dew-drop with another near.

People, especially Americans, are working longer and longer these days. But what if there was another way? You’ve probably heard of the four-day work week. Well, here’s an idea that overworked employees may find just as appealing: the five-hour workday.

An entrepreneur named Lasse Rheingans, who owns the German tech firm Rheingans Digital Enabler, cut his office’s normal workday down to five hours, and he has found the shortened work hours makes employees feel less overworked even while they can still hit their productivity goals.”

(Michael Tedder. “The 5-Hour Work Day Could Transform the Office — and Make Your Life a Whole Lot Better.” Money. October 24, 2019.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rheingans acquired and then renamed the company in late 2017, and reduced the workday for his 16 employees from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It wasn’t a cost-cutting move, and he didn’t slash anyone’s salaries or benefits. Worker pay and vacation time remained at the same levels.

Rheingans’s philosophy is the idea that people are really only productive for a few hours a day. As far back as the 19th century, the economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto observed that 80% of the results at work, both positive and negative, came from 20% of the work done..

Still, there are some trade-offs. Rheingans says that the workplace should be as focused and distraction-free as possible: “small talk is discouraged,” social media and cell-phones are banned, no lunch break, company emails are to be checked no more than twice a day, and no meetings are scheduled to last more than 15 minutes.

According to a study (2018) from the employment think tank the “Workforce Institute at Kronos” and the research firm Future Workplace, most employees say they could get their work done in less than seven hours a day. Of the 3,000 participants polled across North America, Europe, Australia, and India, 45% say that, if they worked uninterrupted, they could could do their jobs in less than five hours a day.

As new technology automates administrative tasks (sorting emails, scheduling conference calls) and new ways of thinking about work continue to gain traction (remote shifts, flexible schedules), an abridged 9-5 isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

New research builds on ample evidence that suggests untethering employees from a 40-hour week – and trusting them to make their own schedule – translates to better retention, happier employees, and increased revenue.

“Just as with a 9-to-5 job, recognize that there will be times when you want or need to work an extra-long day,” wrote Stephan Aarstol, the CEO of a San Diego-based paddle board company that moved to a five-hour workday in June of 2015 “But when you can leave the office at 1 p.m. to go surfing or pick your kids up from school, work isn’t separate from life; it’s all just living.”

Tower Paddle Boards is a small company with six current employees.

(Kristen Bahler. “45% of People Think They Can Do Their Job in Less Than 5 Hours a Day, According to New Research.” Money. September 4, 2018.)

The catch? With increased pressure to perform, employees had to teach themselves to be highly productive. If they couldn't do it they would be fired, but his team met the challenge – and loved it. "With our five-hour workday, we've created a workweek better than most people's vacation weeks," says Aarstol. "Our workers have moved into a world of abundance, not scarcity, because we've massively shifted their quality of life by giving them the only scarce thing left ... their time."

(Marla Tabaka. “How to Increase Productivity by Working Fewer Hours .” Inc. June 06, 2016.)

Aarstol said, “There is pressure to not waste time ... The pressure to perform is heightened, which has made our employees teach themselves to be highly productive, creating a competitive advantage. We can still work 60-hour workweeks when need be, but we'll do a month's work in a week.”

“When implementing it, we clearly stated that employees would now work five hours a day, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., but the expected level of productivity hadn't changed. If you can't complete your work in those five hours, you need to stay as long as it takes to figure it out. If you can't figure it out, you will be fired.”

– Stephen Aarstol, CEO Tower Paddle Boards

Aarstol believes in the knowledge-worker world, with access to massively powerful productivity tools, the difference between one worker and another has never been more dramatic. He sees it as a war for talent, and “the top talent is not just a little bit better than average talent, they are a magnitude better.”

With the five-hour workday, knowledge workers at Tower have now moved into a world of abundance, not scarcity. Aarstol says, “Beyond a certain level you can't enhance their lives with more money. But you can do so by giving them the only scarce thing left – time. And you still get their brilliant brain working to move your company forward.”

(Marla Tabaka. “How to Increase Productivity by Working Fewer Hours .” Inc. June 06, 2016.)

But Before You Get Completely Sold … The Tower Is Leaning

Two years after Tower Paddle Boards initiated the five-hour workday, it limited that schedule to just five-months of the year. Why? As Chief Executive Officer Stephan Aarstol put it, “everyone’s outside life got so much better, at the expense of their passion for the work.” It seems employeesSt enjoyed their time off a little too much.

The company has also diversified. As well as paddle boards, Tower now also sells electric bikes and has an event space and a bike-repair shop. This kept the business going during the pandemic, Aarstol said, adding that its e-bike sales had grown six-fold.

But passion waned. Doesn't it always?

What would happen if more and more businesses in the U.S. went to the five-hour workday?

The five-hour day brings challenges:

* Forbes reported that employees complain that they have to do the same amount of work in less time and this feels like intense pressure.

* Another big problem is having the staff available to serve the needs of clients. If everyone goes home early, who is there in the late afternoon to handle a client’s call. Will it be necessary to work more than a five-hour day to meet client deadlines?

* Employees also have trouble adjusting to not being able to talk with friends and family while at work.

These and other challenges remain.

Still, Forbes reports the trend aligns with the changing demands of the workforce in a tight labor market. The gig economy has made it more mainstream to work where you want and when you want.

Consider that working from home was relatively unheard of 10 or 20 years ago, but is now fairly commonplace. Job sharing, four-day work weeks, hot desks, remote work and other initiatives are being tried out by companies to enhance employee happiness and retain talent. For younger generations, flexible hours and a healthy work-life balance is more important than extra money.

(Jack Kelly. “Will The Five-Hour Work Day Catch On In America?” Forbes. October 28, 2019.)

Flexible work options, while they are increasing in popularity in Europe, are still not widespread in the United States. The Manpower Group reports that only about 23% of American-based companies have flextime positions and/or working from home options.

(Danni White. “Is the 5-Hour Workday Beneficial to Work Balance and Productivity?” Tech Funnel. January 07, 2020.)

At full employment, many corporations will be forced to offer creative solutions to both recruit new employees and to keep their current talent happy and motivated. Otherwise, they’ll risk losing their best and brightest to competitors who offer more attractive incentives, such as five-hour work days.