Can Indian Service Industries Thrive with a 4-Day Work Week Without Hurting Deliverables?

Trials in countries like the UK and Japan have shown higher morale and unchanged productivity. A few Indian startups have experimented with this model too. But in client-facing or operations-heavy industries, skepticism remains. Can the 4-day work week model work in Indian companies without affecting deliverables, especially in service-oriented roles?

When India is not even ready for a five-day week, the question of a four-day week has no relevance. As you know, the functions that the clerks of the banks used to perform have been shifted to customers. Still, these banks are not ready to implement a five-day week. The same is the case with manufacturing companies and sales offices. We do not believe in employees taking holidays and spending long weekends; we believe only in work, production, and SALES. To make it happen, we will ask the employees to work even on Sundays and holidays.

The question of paid weekly offs

The question often asked by employers is whether the weekly off should be a paid one or not. If there are two weekly offs, then no employer would like to make it a paid one. Then how is it possible if we make a four-day week?

Therefore, India is far behind other nations in this matter. True, the central government offices may turn to four days of working, but it is not at all practical in private establishments. Even in the IT sector, there are many companies that work six days a week. Only such IT companies that work for Americans or the UK have a five-day week because working on Saturday adds no value since their clients are not available on Saturdays. For these companies, four days of working will be practical provided their clients also work for four days. But I don't think that India will be ready to tell a client who works for five days that we work only for four days. This is because of our dependency on foreign clients.

Benefits and challenges of a four-day week

The benefit of a four-day week, as it is said, is that when employees get three days off, they can go for outings, thereby developing tourism. It will also relieve the stress of the employees. But if a worker like an electrician or technical person gets three days off, he will use it to work for another company and earn money out of it. Again, the Monday blues will prevail once he is back to his office or factory. He will not utilize the off days for stress relief or traveling but will use them to make money. Hence, I find that we are still in a six-day week and not even ready for a five-day week. Yes, government offices may work for four days and even less than that, but who cares? Because no one gets any benefit out of it.

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If my maximum capacity is attained by working for 4 days, I will also be prepared to follow a 4-day week. However, if my market is vast and I can sell whatever quantity I produce, then I will not compromise on production. I will wish to produce the maximum so that I can sell the maximum. In that case, I will not opt for a 4-day work week.