The four-day work week has been touted as a way to improve work-life balance. Now it’s getting a boost from New Zealand’s leader, who recently raised the idea as one that might help the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Facebook Live video posted earlier this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shared the suggestion while discussing ways to revive domestic tourism in her country. Over the last few months, the coronavirus crisis has forced people around the world to lock down and decimated global demand for travel.
“I’ve had lots of people suggesting we should have a four-day week. Ultimately, that really sits between employers and employees,” Ardern said.
However, the idea has merit in that it might give domestic travelers “flexibility in terms of their travel and their leave,” she added. Ardern noted that 60% of New Zealand’s tourism industry comes from locals.
“There’s lots of things we’ve learnt about COVID and just that flexibility of people working from home, the productivity that can be driven out of that,” she continued.
The prime minister encouraged employers to consider allowing more flexible work set-ups — including remote work and putting in longer hours on fewer days — if possible, “because it certainly would help tourism all around the country.”
Four-day work weeks have become more popular recently as employers explore whether a tighter schedule can boost productivity.
New Zealand’s own government is no stranger to the idea of an alternative working schedule. Since 2018, several government agencies have signed up to pilot a program called “flexible work by default,” which directs employers to give their workers more freedom in various ways.
While it’s up to each participating agency to decide what that arrangement looks like, the government has outlined several possibilities — including allowing people to adopt shorter work weeks, “such as 40 hours over four days, or a nine-day fortnight.”
In 2018, New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian, which helps customers manage their wills and estates, also held a two-month trial of the concept. The firm said it was so successful, it wanted to make it permanent.
By working just four days a week, employees all reported higher productivity, better work-life balance and reduced stress, according to the firm, which had around 240 staffers.
“It was just a theory, something I thought I wanted to try because I wanted to create a better environment for my team,” founder Andrew Barnes told CNN Business at the time. “They went beyond my wildest dreams.”
Big businesses elsewhere are also starting to jump on the bandwagon. Last year, Microsoft took up the idea as the company’s team in Japan experimented by shutting down its offices every Friday in August, and giving all employees an extra day off each week.
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.
As a result, Microsoft announced that it would follow up with another experiment in Japan, and also asked other companies to join the initiative.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
