Even Shake Shack tries a four-day work week

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workers have an overview of the four-day work week.

Danny Meyer 's gourmet hamburger and milkshake chain is the latest venture to experience a reduced schedule, revealed its CEO, Randy Garutti, at an investor conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, in the US. hope that the new benefit would draw employees into this tight job market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the turnover rate for the hotel sector was over 70% for the second year in a row, and three out of 10 restaurants believe that staffing is a challenge.

"Here in Las Vegas, in some of our cabins, we're testing a four-day work week. It's a big thing. Nobody has really been able to find out in the restaurant business, "Garutti said, according to Bloomberg. "If we can understand this on a scale, it could be a great opportunity."

"We do not promise it yet," he added, "but it's something we're having fun trying, and seeing how our leaders appreciate it when it comes to recruiting and retention. "

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There is growing consensus that moving from the traditional five-day, 40-hour work week to just four days a week could be a recipe for success. It became particularly noisy after a six-week test involving nearly 250 employees in a New Zealand financial services company (employees were 20% more productive and showed a 24% improvement in the balance between their work and their privacy after a downgrading to 32 hours) for 40 hours) as the company made the four-day option permanent.

See also: Here's the proof that the four-day work week makes us better employees

Some places, such as Deloitte and KPMG, have also implemented this solution by offering four-day work weeks with flexible hours, where workers are still responsible for using their full 40 hours in those few days. Others reduce hours worked per week by about 20% by releasing employees for an extra day.

It's always the exception to the rule. A recent survey of 1,500 workers and 600 human resources found that about two in three workers (66%) said they wanted to work less than five days a week, but that 17% of their workplaces offered this option. Nevertheless, a separate survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 43% of companies offered a four-day work week to "some" employees and 10% offered a benefit to all or most of their employees. teams.

And it's a major change of pace for the 15.1 million US foodservice employees, who make up 10% of the total US workforce, and sometimes record 15 hours and weeks of 85 hours.

For example, Michelin-starred restaurants such as Maaemo in Norway and 21212 in Edinburgh now offer three- and four-day work weeks. Maaemo, hotel owner Benjamin Ausland, told Munchies that he had moved on to a three-day week once they had eliminated Tuesday's dinner service: "That was always tense before. People were tired of each other; they mutilated themselves. I would be angry at the waiters because they were not smiling enough. But now we have become normal people. It gives you that momentum. "

And Aloha Hospitality recently announced a four-day week for store managers in its Alabama restaurants, in response to the fatigue experienced by many restaurant industry workers after long days of job. "This is a winning solution for not only our team, but also our guests," said General Manager Bob Baumhower in a press release. "We want our team to be fresh, energetic and focused on a legendary customer experience."