A Donegal-based tech company is making the switch to a four-day work week from 1st April 2020.
And it’s not just an April Fool’s Day joke.
A shorter week – and long weekend – will be the new norm for staff at 3D Issue in Letterkenny.
The bold new move came after the company’s 20-strong team was given a choice between a four-day week and a 20% pay rise. Everybody opted for the shorter week.
Paul McNulty – CEO 3D Issue
Paul McNulty, CEO of the Letterkenny-based firm, said, “There’s an incredibly hardworking and dedicated team here so, at this year’s annual review, I decided to offer everyone a choice: a 20% pay increase or a four-day week. And every single person chose a four-day week.
“I’d already read great things about the benefits of a shorter working week – happier staff, increased productivity and so on.
“Our biggest challenge will be to ensure we continue to offer seamless support to our customers. But, with a global customer base, we’re already adept at managing time-zone differences.”
3d Issue
3D Issue was established in 2007 and many of the staff force is already working remotely for at least part of the week.
The company is following the lead set by international companies who are adopting the change and seeing productivity maintained, or even enhanced, among staff.
Innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Andrew Barnes – an advisor for 4 Day Week campaigns in Ireland and the USA and on the board of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University – is a keen advocate of the four-day working week arrangement.
Barnes said: “With its emphasis on productivity, the four-day week tackles hard issues facing our world, for example stress and the breakdown in mental health, gender equality in pay, and the environmental crisis. Four-day weeks offer significant societal benefits from relief of congested highways and public transport systems, reduction in healthcare costs, through to more harmonious families and more purposeful lives.”
