‘Four days a week is a great experiment’: work options examined in Calgary

The four-day work week is an interesting concept that employers should be aware of, according to the president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

The four-day work week is an interesting concept that employers should be aware of, according to the president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

A six-month trial of a four-day working week significantly reduced stress and illness in the workforce compared with a five-day working week, a U.K. study has found.

Calgary human resources consultant Ashey Kieboom says the four-day work week is just the next step in the evolution of working.

“The world has changed. We are living in a different world than we used to live in,” said Keiboom, who is a consultant with Wendy Ellen Inc.

“People are faster and much more efficient. Newer generations are coming in with so much technology. We can do now probably in seconds or minutes what used to take weeks,” Kieboom said.

People were paid the same amount but managed to squeeze their work into four days in the U.K. study.

Kieboom said she thinks people can, if needed, get mostly the same amount done in a four-day work week.

“I think we are empowering employers to say: ‘Here’s what needs to be done, this is when it needs to be done,’ and to empower employees to say, ‘Yes I can do it in that in the time frame,'” Kieboom said.