In September of 2021, Blackbird Interactive, a gaming company, decided to experiment with 4-day work weeks up to the end of year. After a unanimous vote by employees, the decision to implement the new schedule was recently passed. Will other companies in the industry follow suit?
With the pandemic on the companies’ mind, which brought about stress, overworking, and burnout amongst the employees, they acted on obtaining a viable solution. They decided to try out a 4-day work week, to not only help lessen the stress and burnout, but to retain its employees who provide the driving force behind the games with their invaluable time and talent. Since the gaming industry has been known to have long hours, especially during crunch time, Blackbirds CEO had this to say.
“When people get stressed out and burned out, you can’t really treat it. They need to take a big chunk of time off, and even then, they come back frazzled. We’re looking at how we can prevent this in an ongoing way,”
– Blackbird Interactive CEO Rob Cunningham
After the September through December trial, 100% of the 51 employees voted to switch to this 4-day work week. In addition, 91% of the same employees who were surveyed stated a better work-life balance with 90% saying retention would improve.
As a 4-day a week employee myself, I can attest that the move to do this will allow employees to feel less stressed, have a better work life balance, and recover faster over a longer weekend to recharge.
Do you think all companies that at are able to do this should move over to this type of work week? Will this help companies retain employees better and for longer? Would this help you personally? Tell us your thoughts.
Share your reactions below or join the conversation on the Boss Rush Discord (or you can use the QR code below)!
Source: Fortune.com
Featured Image: tuc.org.uk
Image: Blackbird Interactive Twitter.com
Leave a Reply