These startups tried the 4-day work week, and it worked

With India planning to crunch the week, a look at the firms that have adopted and adapted

- Ketaki Desai

Back in 2016, Beroe Inc, a procurement intelligence firm, was trying to tackle two problems at the same time — one of attrition and the other of productivity. Anand Narayanan, VP and head of marketing and HR at the company, felt that addressing the need for a work-life balance was the way to boost employee morale, but wondered if more time off would worsen their productivity problem. “I had the idea of a four-day work week as a solution to both these issues. The average employee was travelling 2-2.5 hours to work,” says the Chennai-based professional. By the end of the first month, productivity was up 50%. In the years since, Beroe’s amended work week, where Friday is off, has led to many improvements within the organisation — their attrition “basically disappeared”, productivity has gone up, as has their employee satisfaction score which has increased from three to four on five.

The four-day work week may sound like a new-fangled idea the practicality of which can be questioned, but there are some Indian firms that have already instated this policy. Now, India is reportedly likely to implement four new labour codes which can change working hours, the number of working days and their take-home salary. It proposes a four-day work week for workers in India. It is unclear what this means in terms of working hours, since the labour ministry has held that the 48-hour weekly work requirement will stay as is.