Another New Brunswick municipality has elected to nix the traditional five-day work week for most employees.
The City of Saint John has announced it will implement a four-day compressed work week, where workers are on the job for extended hours from Monday to Thursday and, in return, have Friday off.
“Saint John is not unique in Canada. We are experiencing the same demand on our workforce, the same shortages in terms of talent attraction, and we want to retain the quality we have within our workers,” John Collin, the city manager of Saint John, said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
A growing demand for a more suitable work-life balance has pushed employers to cut down their work days.
In New Brunswick, several municipalities have begun pilot programs, including Sackville and Quispamsis.
“The research has shown it quite clearly, certainly an increased work-life balance, there is improved mental health, improved physical health, and there’s improved overall morale.”
From an operations perspective, the city can also expect to benefit from reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and better talent recruitment and retention, said Collin
Essential services, including public works, the City Market, recreation facilities, transit, parking enforcement, Saint John Water and public safety will still function without interruption.
Collin said from a public perspective, the changes will be nearly unnoticeable, but for employees, it will be a beneficial shift.
“The vast majority of our employees are supportive of this initiative.”
The four-day work week will begin as a one-year pilot program starting on Oct. 17.
‘A matter of time’
In January, O Strategies, a New Brunswick-based consultancy firm, embarked on a three-month pilot of the four-day work week.
According to co-owner Jason Doiron, they continue to use this model, allowing staff to adjust their schedules based on their “life realities.”
“We decided to really focus on being more efficient and being more focused during our four full days of work,” Doiron said.
Doiron said hard times experienced throughout the pandemic meant finding a better quality of life, starting with a work-life balance.
While O Strategy adopted the shortened work week earlier than most in the province, Doiron says given the apparent shift in priorities, “it was a matter of time” before other organizations followed suit.