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Unilever – the company behind brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, and Vaseline – is making a bold change to the work-life for employees in New Zealand.
If this initiative works, the company may implement the changes for all 150,000 employees worldwide.
According to Business Insider, the company is running a trial program with a four-day week for workers. The workers will still collect their full salaries.
Staff will work 80% of their usual contracted hours and will be able to set their own hours according to what times work best for their lives and productivity.
Nick Bangs, the company’s New Zealand managing director, said the move will “improve employees’ mental and physical wellbeing” while making the company more productive.
There have been few “bright sides” to the pandemic but perhaps Covid-19 forcing millions out of offices and into remote working situations will ultimately end long-held ideas about how and when people work.
“We believe the old ways of working are outdated and no longer fit for purpose,” Bangs added.
The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has been a driving force behind the four-day workweek model. She’s gone on record stating it would boost domestic tourism and aid in New Zealand’s recovery from COVID-19.
The trial starts on December 7 and will last an entire year.
Hopefully, more companies follow this model.
Next idea up for a vote – the five-hour workday.
[via Business Insider]
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