Does A 5 Day Work Week Reduce Productivity?

Asking all HR veterans here, what has been your experience in a practical sense? There is a lot of research available, and a lot of material can be read on Google. However, my question is, how has it turned out for people who deal with it day in and day out? Even more interesting would be the perspective of people who have worked both 5 and 6-day week settings.

Hi,

Basically, the concept of working five days a week is more common in the IT sector and corporate offices compared to the manufacturing industry. Working five days a week definitely increases productivity. This is because employees have more time to balance their personal lives, and they are refreshed to start work on Monday after two days of rest.

Regards,
Rajeev Dixit

Psychological effect is definitely there. If you are working 6 days, employees do get a feeling that they are disadvantaged vis-a-vis those working in companies with a 5-day week.

One part, thus, is the pressure some MNCs having a 5-day week have on those who do not. The other part is how much off-time per week is optimum. I mean, if 2 days off gives better work-life balance, why wouldn't a 3-day off give an even better balance? As in how do we know a four-day workweek won't increase more productivity than a 5-day workweek?

As rightly brought out by some experts, '5 days a week' applies more to the IT sector and to some corporate offices. The reason for this is primarily the work-life balance. The closing time on working days is based on the completion of the assigned work rather than on fixed working hours. Calling team members on the 6th day is a practice built into the system to complete the unfinished tasks. People do this willingly since everyone understands that finishing their work in the first 5 days shall allow them to earn a weekend to fully enjoy with their family and friends. The 5-day workweek has helped many organizations in transforming their work culture and creating performance-driven teams and individuals.

Having worked in a 6-day (and often 7-day) week setting for the first 12 years of my career and in a 5-day week setting ever since, I'll strongly advocate a 5-day week. It helps people unwind and come back fresh and ready to take on the challenges on Monday. Practically speaking, in a 6-day week setting, the person is busy attending to household chores on the day off and comes back even more tired on the following day.

But, as Govind Singh Negi has already pointed out, the organization needs to build a culture of delivery/output orientation to ensure that people willingly put in extra hours/days if an assignment demands that. That said, irresponsible people will continue to be low performers irrespective of the number of workdays!

Hi,

We are in an era where it is said that we all have to work smart rather than working hard. A five-day workweek is something that indicates working smart, while a six-day workweek is considered for those working hard. All we see here is that work-life balance plays a significant role in re-energizing a person to start fresh with their work. Therefore, I feel that working fewer days in a week should not matter as long as the work is worth it.

5 Days a week are implemented in the IT and ITES sectors since they deal directly with international customers. However, there are still many IT & ITES companies working six days a week.

First of all, I would like to explain the strategy of Indian IT & ITES companies regarding a five-day workweek. They work for five days a week; however, the working hours are equivalent to a six-day workweek. This arrangement does not affect productivity or cause any issues in day-to-day activities. In this way, companies can achieve their goals, and employees are willing to work an extra one or two hours per day to enjoy weekends off.

This simple logic and strategy are commonly adopted by Indian companies. I am 100% certain that a five-day workweek does not negatively impact productivity. On the contrary, it improves productivity and helps employees balance their personal and professional lives, making them feel more comfortable.

Dear Bodhisutra,

As already stated by others, 5 days of working is better than 6 days. In most companies where employees work for 6 days a week, people tend to be in a holiday mood on Saturday, and hardly any work gets done on that day. Some may arrive late due to personal errands or leave early.

Mr. Govind has raised some valid points, and Bijay has rightly pointed out that a 5-day workweek helps individuals manage both their professional and personal lives effectively.

Regards,
Anita

Hello Bodhisutra,

The idea of a 5-day work week is very pleasing to employees. However, there are certain professions and jobs where a 6-day work week becomes important. For example, in teaching, there are a few universities which prescribe a mandatory 6-day work week. This is acceptable because the total number of hours put in each day averages 6-7 hours. It should depend on the nature of work and the requirements of the industry.

Regards,
madhu_ratna

Thanks, everyone for the interesting views.

Since I've lived with 5 days since I left school, I'd be partial towards a 5-day week. But if you look heuristically, IT/ITes companies have a 5-day week, and they are generally more productive than 6-day week government departments. My vote is for a 5-day week for all it's worth.

Dear Bodhisutra and others,

In the course of discussing the five-day work week or a six-day work week, all of you have missed the vital point.

What about those employers who keep a five-day work week but practically have many employees working as if it were a six-day work week?

Bangalore is the IT capital of India. I see a large number of IT professionals working well past midnight. Of course, they have been doing it for the last couple of years.

A five or six-day work week is not a moot point, but what is the percentage of excess work that employees put in that we should consider? Who has conducted this study? For instance, in the five-day work week, if the employee works extra for one hour every day, then they work for almost half a day extra. Therefore, to assess productivity, the number of hours spent in the office should be the criteria, not the workday.

There is nothing wrong with having a six-day week as such, but top bosses should ensure that work does not spill over beyond the regular working hours. Unfortunately, this also occurs with a six-day work week.

Since the question pertains to productivity, let me inform you that in France, people work for only 35 hours per week. Despite this, their GDP is significantly higher. Evidently, their per capita income is also higher.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar
+91-9900155394

Hello everyone,

The thread has brought to the fore many interesting dimensions on five or six-day working. Perhaps the number of working hours spent in a day could make more sense. With the advent of laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc., a person spends more time than what is apparent.

The other aspect is how many breaks a person takes in between. Doing some personal jobs during office hours also needs to be taken into account. Extreme cases are observed when people try to meet tough deadlines. In these cases, 24x7 also comes into the picture. Here, priority takes over productivity.

So, any study of effectiveness should take into account the number of hours usefully spent for the purpose of work.

V. Raghunathan