Talent.com, a leading job search platform connecting the world to work, today released a study showcasing Canadian employees’ sentiments on a four-day work week. According to the study, a massive 93% of Canadians are interested in a four-day work week, placing it in their top 3 professional benefits (57%) that can be offered by companies, followed by insurance (52%) and flexibility to choose their working hours (47%).
Benefits Canadians love
While four-day work week remained consistently in the top three benefits across provinces, British Columbia chose insurance benefits (59%) among their top choices more often than four-day work week. Interestingly, Ontario was the only province to include more vacation days (45%) in their top three benefits, even above flexibility to choose their working hours.
Concerns for four-day work week
Although 43% of Canadians believe that a four day work week is an eventual next step to hybrid working, 8 in 10 have noted at least one concern with the concept, with Gen Z and Millennials more concerned than older generations.
Among respondents, nearly half of them (48%) are worried about being paid less, followed by working longer days (36%) and working overtime without extra pay (29%). More women than men are worried about being paid less (52% vs. 45%) and working longer days (40% vs. 33%), and these concerns seem to keep growing with the level of education.
Commenting on the report, Robert Boersma, Head of Sales Strategy at Talent.com, said, “Successful pilot programs for a four-day work week have been implemented in markets around the world, resulting in improved productivity. Canadians too are showing an increased desire for the concept, however, they’ve shown a lot of concerns surrounding the implementation of four-day work week and what that could mean in terms of workload, work hours, pay and more.”
“With this study, we at Talent.com seek to understand these concerns and work with both employees and organizations to address them, ultimately empowering them for what comes next.” adds Robert.
Ideal work scenario
44% Canadians say that they are not equally productive on all working days with 5 in 10 saying that a four-day work week should consist of less than 36 hours per week. However, working between 32 and 36 hours is more popular among the younger demographic (41% – 18-34 year olds) than 55+ (29%). That said, Canadians value work-life balance, and only 8% of them feel that a four-day work week can consist of more than 40 hours a week.
But, when it comes to taking a pay cut in exchange for a shorter work week, only close to 3 in 10 are willing to take a cut of less than 10%, with 18-34 year olds more willing (44%) compared to 35-54 year olds and 55+ (30%), and this sentiment remains largely consistent across income groups [less than $10,000 to $29,999 (40%), $30,000 to $59,999 (35%), $60,000 to $99,999 (32%), $100,000 or more (37%)].
Unpacking the reasons for four-day work week
Better work-life balance (47%), improve mental health and avoid burnout (20%), and reduce stress levels from overwhelming work conditions (10%) are the top motivators for Canadian employees to want a four-day work week. Employees in Alberta (56%) and British Columbia (50%) placed work-life balance most often in their top reasons compared to other provinces. Additionally, more women (24%) placed improving mental health and avoiding burnout in their top reasons than men (16%).
Reasons for a longer weekend
71% of Canadians placed leisure & recreational activities in their top three ways of spending the extra free time, followed by personal appointments (65%) and household chores (59%). Leisure tends to be most often seen in the top 3 in Alberta (78%) and BC (75%).
More women (64%) than men (56%) ranked household chores in their top 3 activities whereas developing a side hustle and professional development were of more interest to men (42% and 34% respectively) than women (34% and 26% respectively).
Methodology:
Survey conducted by YouGov, for Talent.com among 1003 working Canadian adults, representative of the working Canadian national population. The survey was conducted online, on the YouGov proprietary panel from 30.03.2023 to 06.04 2023.
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