Four-day Work Week: Transitioning to a Four-day Work Week

Abstract

This thesis contributes to the relatively new phenomenon 'Four-day work week'. The thesis focuses on the Danish labor market and is therefore based on two concrete but different companies in Denmark. One of the two companies consists of knowledge workers who sit in an office, while the other company is a production company consisting mainly of workers in the production lines. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate which experiences, opportunities and limitations that can be drawn from the two types of companies in the transition to a 4-day work week. With a point of departure from constructed grounded theory as the methodological premise, a range of 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted in the two companies. In addition to this, the thesis is based on theory of Capabilities, Sense-making, Routines and Habits.
The thesis found that a 4-day work week is far more complex than from what appears in the public media. It is important that companies consider the context when they choose to implement a 4-day work week. It became clear in the study of the 4-day work week that new routines and habits that are strengthened during a 4-day work week must be based on the specific company. In addition, it is particularly important that companies reflect on what capabilities they have and need in future. Companies must thereafter ensure that the capabilities are supported by specific routines and habits that can promote the performance of the company in question. Lastly it is important to note that in the transition towards a 4-day work week, ‘sense-making’ becomes key for workers to understand and appreciate why this change is happening. It therefore requires more than just re-moving a work day in the transition towards a 4-day work week. The analysis of the two companies proposes to use a range of different perspectives on the 4-day work week and that this phenomenon must be nuanced as this thesis indicates both opportunities and constraints of a 4-day work week. The thesis proposes to further examine well-being more closely in relation to the 4-day working week