According to a survey conducted by the Colliers company among 503 respondents, standard working hours are enough to successfully complete work tasks for 46% of respondents. Another 16% of respondents, most often from age groups Z and Boomers, even state that part-time work would be enough for them to complete work tasks. More than a third of respondents (38%), on the other hand, agreed that they do not have time to fulfill their agenda during standard working hours.
"When we focus on the responses of individual generations, we find that millennials, i.e. people between the ages of 28-43, are most often pursuing their tasks during standard working hours. Half of them would need 30-40 hours a week to work. Less than 30 hours would be enough for up to 28% of respondents from the youngest generation of Z workers," says Jana Vlková, director of the Workplace Advisory and Office Agency department at Colliers, adding that these data correspond to respondents' views on a shortened working week.
Four-day work wins for Generation Z and Boomers
Satisfied employer and employee
The four-day working week is being tested in many companies and countries. In the Czech Republic, the concept in a modified form (the so-called compressed week) was tested, for example, by companies from the field of IT and business services. As part of a compressed work week, they allowed employees to spread their work duties over 4 days a week. "Thanks to this concept, companies can strengthen the loyalty and satisfaction of their employees, which is especially important today, when there is a shortage of quality candidates on the labor market," says Jonathan Appleton, director of the industry association ABSL. Two-thirds of the companies that tested the compressed work week even stated that it significantly helped them attract new talent. Their employees were then happier, less stressed and more efficient.
According to Jana Vlková, employee satisfaction and loyalty can also be supported by a strong corporate culture, an integral part of which is the working environment itself. This is because it connects the company community, helps develop work skills through the sharing of experience and information, and allows you to quickly learn the principles of how the company works. "You will support all of this with suitable high-quality design and the creation of zones for meeting together with space for focused work," concludes Jana Vlková.
More than half of the respondents would welcome the possibility of shortening the working week. Ideally for four days and in addition as an employee benefit, i.e. under the condition of maintaining the current financial evaluation. One of the working days they would like to work from home. This suggests that flexibility and work-life balance are key for many people. Less than a third of surveyed employees (27%) prefer a classic work week, even with the option of working from home two to three times a week.
The youngest generation Z is expected to have the strongest relationship with the four-day working week. Two-thirds of them (65%) would specifically like this change. This is followed by Boomers (58%), which may signal that older generations value time spent with family or travel more after many years in the workforce.
"An interesting finding of the survey is the closeness of the views of the youngest and oldest generations, although their preferences and attitudes on many issues usually differ. Both of these groups show greater agreement in their preferences regarding working time and even in the opinion that they would be comfortable with three-quarter working hours. This tendency was even more evident in their support for the four-day working regime. It was the shortened work week that opened the intergenerational gap the most. The difference between the youngest workers and generation X, as well as millennials, is a surprising 15%," says Jana Vlková.
