The 4-Day Unicorn

The pandemic chewed up and spit out a lot of workers! Even years later, burnout is still high, and plenty of people have realized that maybe slaving away for THE MAN isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Some companies stuck with remote or hybrid work, but many have pushed return-to-office (RTO) policies, cranking up the pressure. Enter: Quiet Fridays, where workers unofficially claim a day (or part of one) for themselves. Let’s dive in.

Here are Five Fast Facts on Quiet Fridays:

  1. 👀 Trust Who? - Companies expect total dedication but don’t always return the favor (hello, surprise mass layoffs). While 86% of executives think their employees trust them, only 67% of workers agree. About half of execs trust their senior leadership, but only 38% of entry-level workers do. Shocking, right?
  1. 🔥 Boo Burnout! - Over half of workers are experiencing some level of burnout. The two biggest reasons are job insecurity and increased workload. Congratulations, you survived the pandemic, now here’s more work and less certainty!
  1. 🦄 Killing The Unicorn - A legit 4-day workweek sounds nice, but it’s an uphill battle. U.S. and global efforts are ongoing, but job postings for 4-day weeks on Indeed have dropped 42% since late 2022. Flexible Fridays? Down almost 19%. Womp, womp.
  1. 🙈 Looking Busy - Workers are taking matters into their own hands. The internet is full of hacks to make remote employees look busy—mouse jigglers, auto-click apps, PowerPoint in presentation mode, or even setting up a Zoom call with yourself. Productivity theater at its finest.
  1. 😉 The Friday Fade - More people are quietly claiming their Fridays. OpenTable reports a 44% jump in noon-to-5pm reservations on Fridays, and workers are logging off 80 minutes earlier than in 2020. If a laid-back Friday isn’t official, some folks are just making it happen anyway.

🔥Bottom line: There seems to be an unspoken truce between many employers and workers. Think of it as a WFH version of “don’t ask, don’t tell”—as long as the work gets done, no one’s looking too closely at when. But one thing’s clear: workers want better work-life balance, and this is one way to get it.

Do you have a 4-day work week?

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