We all love going to the office and meeting our colleagues, and most of us feel better in the environment that we are in, but this is the truth as we have been assuming this for a long time.
The answer depends on and varies from person to person based on their ability and work preferences. Going to the office is mandatory now that you have WFO, a term gaining and creating a lot of attention. WFO means work from the office, and WFO stands for work from home. If someone who is recently hired has the option to choose to work from the office or home, As the work culture diversifies, all the employees don’t need to go to the offices for the whole week.
Here comes the 4-day work week which is allowed by the various offices. While the idea of a three-day weekend sounds appealing, what if you abandoned the traditional five-day workweek in favour of this? Does one day that you are adding to your life matter? It matters then how Indian work culture deals with the 4th day of the week shift where the workload is even higher.
Getting productive is the answer to many questions that arise when we see an employee working four days a week instead of the traditional six or five. Would your company continue to flourish? Or would productivity suffer as a result? In India, most people work in private offices, whether an MNC or a business, where easy labour is easily available at the minimum cost. At the same time, when you count four days of work, it matters.
Let’s take an example. A person works 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, and their total working hours is 40. At the same point, if a person works 12 hours for 4 days, their total working hours are also 40.
According to the new labour codes, employees must work 48 hours per week, or 12 hours per day, for a four-day work week. The point is that if the person gives the same manpower to a company on both 4 and 5 days, it is productive. Under the current structure, Indian companies may face challenges in implementing a four-day work week because they may have to pay employees overtime for the extra work hours. Implementing a four-day workweek can be difficult for enterprises because it necessitates the right support, technology, and workplace culture.
There is an argument that modern technology has significantly accelerated the pace at which we work and that the five-day workweek is no longer necessary. But what about unskilled labourers who aren’t as tech-savvy? In India, most employment-based factories and MSME businesses that are flourishing need more working hours in the least amount of time, as they can’t afford their workers to work for only 4 days a week. It will hamper their productivity and business. Working hours matter a lot in very few manpower-driven startups, as seen in unicorns and emerging startups.
Advantages and disadvantages are always there in this query of working days. Let’s see what the advantages are first. Does India need most of them?
Cost Cutting
As the cost of labour in India is already cheap, as we compared it to the nations that have already implemented the 4-day work week, the numbers are already very small. For them, cost cutting matters as the employment rate is high, especially in India, where you can get labour at a very low cost, and the skilled labour wages are also not too high. In India, cost cutting practically doesn’t matter.
Happy Employees
As a result, we can conclude that, in general, employee happiness is unimportant. There are no such programs for the labour being performed and the benefits of the labour. We already know how labour is treated in India. So yes, this thing also does matter to us.
Productivity Level
Most Indian employees are not that skilled, so the productivity level will be hampered over here. Production depends on how much manpower was used in big companies where the WFH has been majorly driven. At that place, the productivity level increased, but we have to think about the whole of India in a general way.
At these points, the benefits of the 4-day work week are limited to a definite sector. Most points say it does matter when we are shifting to 4 days of weak culture.
Unfortunately, a four-day work week does not work for every company. It is a viable option only for companies that can re-adapt their entire business to a new way of working. Adopting a new way of working is a big step, so think about whether a four-day week is right for your company.
It also hampers the employee’s basic benefits as they have to work more hours, get a lower in-hand salary, have no cut in paid holidays, eligibility for leave, and leads to more formalities
Every worker’s ability and productivity were changed in distinct ways. WFH culture is new for Indians in recent years, but they have adapted wisely, and getting out of it is a difficult task for all. While working, we love to do other things while sitting on the couch.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, it became difficult for companies to shift to work from home and remote working models, and the four-day workweek model will be difficult for companies in India. However, there is no reason why Indians cannot benefit from the four-day workweek model. However, different sectors have different requirements and will need to adjust them to meet their needs.