Olivia Hille headshot
Moving from college into the workforce is already a stress-provoking time of students’ lives. Many of us have a clear understanding of what we want to do and are looking for our path. No matter what field your prospects are in, the most common work week layout is five days of work in a row. While that is the norm of our reality, five full days of work drains workers’ perseverance and diminishes drive. Over long periods of time, this ultimately affects employees negatively.
As a college student who has experienced the five-day work week, I do not believe it provides many, if any, positive outcomes. I do believe that the five-day work week benefits employers, particularly large corporations, as it pushes workers to the limit and gives minimal time off or recuperation. I cannot say that the idea entices me. I am excited about my career and exuberant to use my education to create sustainable and supportive practices in our world. However, in order for me to have a positive impact in the workforce, I have to be happy and healthy.
Recent trials in Iceland show that shorter hours and/or shorter work week indicated a strong improvement of employee well-being and minimization of burnout. While this study shows a positive relationship between worker health and shorter work weeks, replication of this study around the world is not very likely. Iceland has universal health care in place for its citizens, as well as other federally funded programs that allow for general affluence. In order to gain the same results as Iceland, we would also need to have the same care and outlook for our citizens.
Nonetheless, this study shows that care for workers on an interpersonal level truly does increase productivity while cutting down working time. Four-day work weeks not only provide a longer weekend, but also condense the work into a shorter time frame. This benefits both employees and employers. Many companies already have “flex” Fridays built into their work week. Shorter hours or shorter weeks have been shown to bring more morale and interest in work. Clearly, this is directly correlated to the care that is shown to the employees.
As college students furthering our careers to more competitive job positions, we desperately need less stressful environments that prioritize workers’ health. It is in the best interest of employers to always put the health and safety of their employees first, especially when it comes to quality of work. This cannot be exclusive to salaried or tenure positions.
As the rising workforce, it must be our goal to protect our future sanity and health from companies that will ultimately prioritize work outcomes rather than the longevity of workers’ mental and physical health. Here at NC State, we are very aware of this looming debacle especially with the recent conversation concerning how inhumanly low the national minimum wage is. NC State students are educated in a diverse and comprehensive fashion that absolutely requires that we be treated as humans, not machines. We need breaks and time for ourselves, which is very hard to comfortably achieve in a five-day work week. As NC State students, we are apt to be advocates for an improved work week.
To truly inspire and excite younger generations is to ensure that the job opportunities they seek out are not made less desirable because of workplace environments. This inherently includes deconstructing the normalcy of a five-day, 45-hour work week.