FOUR DAY WORKING WEEK- WOULD THE RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY SUFFER?

Circa 30 UK companies are taking part in a 6-month trial of the four-day working week, where employees will be paid the same as if they were working their usual five days. The pilot scheme - run by the 4 Day Week campaign, think tank Autonomy and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College - will assess whether employees can operate at 100% efficiency for 80% of the time.

• I suppose we would have a few different angles to consider when looking at a four-day week within recruitment: 
• Will the consultants be more productive in those 4 days to get their work done? 
• If some businesses still worked 5 days, would the consultants miss out on the possibility of new roles? Would candidates miss out on possible opportunities because the consultant was having an extra day off? 
• Would you expect someone else to pick up your work whilst having your extra day off? 
• Would you be happy to take 20% less pay if service levels dropped
• Would you charge or ask for a smaller fee as the role would only be worked on 80% of the time? 

 

WILL CONSULTANTS BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: 

As most of us are aware a trial of the four-day working week has been launched in the UK to see if employees are more productive with longer weekends. The Covid Pandemic has given employees more of a chance to prove that not only could they work from Home full-time, but they could get their work done efficiently whilst still doing the odd jobs around their house (As we all would have done). Does this mean that we could get the same amount of work done if we worked 4 days in the office instead of 5 without the distractions of home? Would our employees be happier with a four-day week? 

Most of our consultants feel that if that a 4-day week would puncture their work ethic and wouldn’t benefit their Desk or Team therfore would still end up responding to Clients and Candidates then they may as well work the 5 day week. 

WOULD WE MISS OUT ON POTENTIAL NEW BUSINESS or WOULD CANDIDATES LOSE OUT ON THE PERFECT ROLE: 

This topic divided our office because many agreed that working a four-day week would potentially mean they couldn’t offer their clients the outstanding service they offer now due to not being available 5 days a week when the Client or Candidate may need to speak to them. 

The other half of the office agreed to this, but their assumption would be that whilst they are off that extra day one of the other consultants would pick up any calls or queries (Like when they are on Annual Leave) because not everyone would be off on the same day, therefore the business would not be missed, and all candidates and clients would be dealt with perfectly as always.

I think that most Recruiters would agree with the above statements but surely overall the relationship you build with your clients and Candidates is yours and not the Agencies, developed over the time you have been assisting them. Therefore, surely they would want to speak to you to continue to keep the confidence in us as an Agency and not someone who potentially couldn’t answer the questions correctly? 

Would your client take their business to another agency if you were charging the same fee’s you did but they were working 5-days a week instead of 4? Would they believe the service would be more consistent or would your clients trust you to get the work done in 80% of the time for 100% of the cost?  

Would a candidate decide to only work with agencies that were working 5 days a week to try and help them find the next perfect role? 

PRO’S

• Better work/life balance
• Happier in work and Happier outside of work to spend more quality time with Family and friends
• More time to do jobs around the house, long weekends away without using holidays 
• Less time commuting to work if office based 

CON’S

• Extra delay in getting back to queries from clients and candidates  
• If workload is too much, may not get it all done in time therefore rushing work, may cause more mistakes and effecting service 

 

Would you expect the same pay if you could deliver the same quality of service but if quality dropped would you be happy to take less Pay and less holidays to work a 4-day week?

What are your thoughts on a 4-day working week? I would be keen to hear your thoughts as a candidate or client😊 Gareth@connect-recruit.co.uk

 

News    Gareth