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Happy fake Thursday, folks, and cheers to the second four-day week in a row thanks to some welcome public holidays, and the Easter weekend.

If only it could stay this way forever.

I’m sure I don’t need to convince you that a four-day workweek is a great idea. In fact, studies have shown that it can actually increase productivity.

We’ve been banging on about it for years now, in the hope that it would catch on, and in some parts of the world, it has.

While it doesn’t look like South Africans will be getting an endless supply of long weekends anytime soon, other countries are getting on board in a big way.

According to Financial Review, jobs website ZipRecruiter said that the share of postings that mention a four-day week has tripled in the past three years, to 62 per 10 000.

Unilever started a year-long trial at their offices in New Zealand to try it out, and Spain is considering a proposal to subsidise companies that implement it, with trials already on the go.

Even Japan, which has a word for ‘death from working too hard’ (karoshi), has lawmakers looking into a day off every week to improve the mental health of employees.

In Britain, per The Telegraph, one in five small businesses are either actively considering or already using the four-day workweek, while a survey by Be The Business found that more than 50% of companies are open to ditching the traditional way of doing things.

Anthony Impey, chief executive of Be the Business, said the findings were “an indication of some massive changes in the ways of working post-pandemic”.

“The consideration around the four-day week is just a reflection of some really interesting approaches that we’re going to see over the next 10 years, in terms of moving away from a traditional model of working nine to five,” he said.

Over to Reuters for news from Germany, where the country’s largest trade union, IG Metall, has sealed a deal that will see a 2,3% wage increase in the industrial sector, to be paid either in full or as part of a switch to a four-day week.

The package is designed to allow workers to opt-in for long weekends without the loss of wages.

To return to Financial Review, the pros clearly outweigh the cons when it comes to restructuring the way that we work.

Berlin-based tech company Awin rolled out an experiment last year, telling staff to sign off around lunchtime every Friday and get on to the business of the weekend. It was so successful, that they’ve now cancelled Fridays completely.

“We firmly believe that happy, engaged and well-balanced employees produce much better work,” says CEO Adam Ross. “[They] find ways to work smarter, and they’re just as productive.”

So, to all of the bosses out there reading this, do your employees a solid and think about it.

If things keep going the way they are, all of your international business partners will be out of the office on a Friday anyway, so you might as well be, too.

[sources:finreview&telegraph&reuters]