'People will like it': 4-day work week paying off for Chicago company
CHICAGO (CBS) -- What would you do with a three day weekend - every single weekend?
A new study out of the UK measured productivity in companies experimenting with a four-day work week, and what they found may have you petitioning the plan to your boss.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza caught up with a Chicago-based business who's already taken up the four-day torch.
"The pandemic exposed that we all have our lives to live on top of our jobs."
At MxD, Manufacturing Times Digital, they teach companies how to incorporate new technology into their preexisting manufacturing process.
"Having workshops and demonstrating the technology, so they know how to use them," said MxD's Frederico Scimmarella.
Demonstrating and innovating tech, so other companies can upgrade the way they do things. It's like adding a new stereo to a used car, all while innovating their own standard workflow.
Every employee has the option to work four days a week.
"We understand and recognize how valued we are," said Scimmarella.
It's paying off.
"The people coming here and working here want to be here, Scimmarella said.
MxD employee rentention has grown. In 2021, the company was on pace to have 54 employees, This year, it's 76, about a 40% increase.
"All the data says that if you do it, people will like it, and others will be attracted to it."
Dr. Robert Bruno is a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois. CBS 2 asked him about the new UK study, finding that of the 61 companies switching to a four-day work week, the overwhelming majority will keep that schedule - reporting less employee burnout.
So why keep five days?
"I think some habit, some history. We're stuck in this industrial mode," noted Bruno.
AT MxD, just having the option has actually prompted some people to work more.
"Just giving the flexibility has made people appreciate what we do more," Scimmarella said.
