Business

These Canadian companies switched to a 4-day work week. Here’s why

Published

1 year ago

July 31, 2023

Ayesha Khan says she isn’t sure she could return to traditional work after shifting to a four-day work week.

Her company adopted the new scheme in March. And since then, every Friday, the Milton, Ont., resident has the time for something as simple as getting her nails done — something she says, as a mother of two, used to take months to plan.

“How would I go back to that five-day life? It would be very difficult,” said Khan, who works in client services for Sensei Labs, a Toronto-based software company.

“Being able to focus on both my physical and mental health, and just having the time to do that… it’s been invaluable.”

Khan is one of hundreds of employees in North America who now work four days a week after participating in a pilot project organized by the non-profit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global and researchers at Boston College.

According to their findings released last week, of the 41 companies that participated and were surveyed, 35 said they are keeping, planning to, or leaning toward keeping the new working scheme.

How feasible is a 4-day work week? | Quick Question

Praxis PR co-founder Maureen Juniper and SAP Canada’s head of HR for North America Megan Smith discuss the feasibility of a four-day work week and why some companies are better positioned to implement reduced working hours than others.

Joe O’Connor, the former CEO of 4 Day Week Global who helped lead the study, says it’s the largest trial of its kind in North America to date and the first that involves a “relatively strong participation” from hundreds of Canadians from a total of nine companies.

“We’re seeing that shorter working weeks lead to happier, healthier employees,” said O’Connor, who’s also the director and co-founder of the Work Time Reduction Centre of Excellence in Toronto.

“They lead to organizations that are better positioned to attract and retain talent, and actually, very surprisingly for people, they’re also leading to organizations which are more productive.”

The study had companies, most having between 11 to 25 employees, voluntarily try a four-day work week for six months between February 2022 and April 2023. Researchers let companies choose the best way to reduce hours as long as they maintained pay at 100 per cent.

For the 15 employees at Montreal-based firm L’Abri, it means working 35 hours between Monday and Thursday. Architectural designer Pia Hocheneder says the change has made her and her colleagues more focused during work hours, and actually encouraged work gatherings after hours to make up for any lost social contact throughout the day.

“It’s a quality of life that you’re gaining,” said Hocheneder.

Employers seeing benefits to 4-day work week

Workers and employers in Canada have found switching to a four-day work week is resulting in less stress and fewer sick days without sacrificing productivity, but it may not be an option for all workers.

What about bigger companies?

Maureen Juniper, the co-founder and partner of public relations firm Praxis, says after a series of workshops and webinars with 4 Day Work Week Global ahead of the transition, the company took a split approach: half of its 27 employees get Monday off, while the other half gets Friday off to make sure there’s always somebody to serve clients throughout the week.

The change paid off, she said, with no impact on revenue. In fact, she said internal findings show the company saw a 25 per cent reduction in personal and sick days taken and a 15 per cent decrease on time spent on internal and administrative tasks.

“It’s life changing, and our business has never run more efficiently,” said Juniper.

But Winny Shen, an associate professor of organization studies at York University in Toronto, says while the study’s positive results are consistent with previous literature, they’re limited in that they mostly come from companies with relatively few employees.

“That can be, perhaps, more difficult to scale up in a larger company with lots more people, lots more complexity,” said Shen.

The 15 employees at the Montreal-based architecture firm L’Abri switched to working 35 hours between Monday and Thursday under the program. (Submitted by Nicolas Lapierre)

More study is needed among randomized companies and those with more blue-collar workers, she said.

And for those companies who do try a four-day week, she says there’s always a risk employees could push back if it’s not made permanent, pointing to a similar movement in workplaces trying to mandate a post-pandemic return to the office.

“I think there’s a lot of potential here, but I think before we kind of say that this is beneficial across all circumstances, I think we have to do more work and investigate that,” said Shen.

Tom Collver, a co-founder of pilot participant and remote ecommerce company AddPBJ, says while the shift to a reduced work week comes with a different set of “friction points” for each company, it’s worth the time exploring a way it can work for them given the potential benefits.

“You don’t have to go whole hog right away, but I think it’s something really, really valuable to explore because you never know.”

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Business

Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

Published

14 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

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Business

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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Business

Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

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