In favour of four

NORTH AMERICA: The four-day work week is gaining popularity in the US and Canada, largely to reduce high energy costs. For a growing number of organizations, it makes sense to have employees work ten hours a day for four days, rather than seven or eight hours daily during a five-day week.

US automaker Chrysler is one of the companies that is considering a four-day week. The company, which is currently in talks with the United Auto Workers union, says not only would this save energy, but it would give employees a three-day work week. “I would suspect a majority of employees would probably be in favour of something like this these days,” Chrysler spokesman Ed Saenz told CBC News.

Koroberi Inc., a web-based marketing firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, introduced a partial four-day work week this summer. “We have a lot of younger staff members, and they drive an average of 30 miles a day,” company president Kathryn Olive told Associated Press. “It was becoming an issue for them.”

Not everyone is in favour of longer working days, however. Joan Jessome, president of the Government and General Employees Union in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, says ten-hour working days could be a problem for some families. “It’s something that’s easier said than done,” Jessome told CBC News. “I don’t know if everybody’s lifestyle can accommodate ten hours a day versus seven.”

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