Unilever (UL) has become the latest major company to hop on the four-day work week bandwagon, lending credence to the idea that flexible working is here to stay. – By Gerald Gekara and news agencies.
On Tuesday, the distributor of Lipton’s tea, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announced it would test shorter working hours for all its employees in New Zealand, letting them decide which four days they’d prefer to work each week.
Unilever said that if all goes well, the company will consider whether to shake up its workflow on a wider scale.
“We hope the trial will result in Unilever being the first global company to embrace ways of working that provide tangible benefits for staff and for business,” Nick Bangs, managing director of Unilever New Zealand, said in a statement.
Bangs said that his team was inspired by the findings from that case study, and had started to “believe the old ways of working are outdated. “
The results were promising: While the amount of time spent at work was cut dramatically, productivity — measured by sales per employee — went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year, the company said.
Four-day work weeks have been touted as a way to improve work-life balance.
Some businesses recently started trying it out to help fight burnout caused by the challenges of working during the pandemic.
