Who wouldn't love a four-day workweek?
Workers at software and data engineering company Elephant Ventures are about to find out what it's like to have three-day weekends every week.
Art Shectman, the president of the company, told me employees were struggling with work-life balance since the pandemic hit. Morale was also suffering when employees started working remotely and some of the office culture was lost.
But he noticed a change after the long Fourth of July weekend.
"Everyone came back refreshed," Shectman said. "You could feel it in company morale. Everyone was more productive and engaged."
So he decided to switch the team to a condensed, four-day workweek.
The idea is to work 10-hour days Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off. The shortened schedule starts this week and may last through September, or longer if it's successful.
A condensed four-day workweek isn't a new concept. Companies sometimes implement them as a way to attract talent or increase productivity. When Microsoft tried a shorter workweek in Japan last August, it found productivity went up by almost 40% compared to the same period in 2018.
Shectman might take the idea one step further.
"Depending on finances and customer satisfaction, we might consider reducing the workday one hour in October," Shectman said.
Click here to read more about the company's plans.
The secret sauce to staving off unemployment
Welcome to Owensboro, Kentucky: The only city in the nation where the unemployment rate hasn't risen over the past year.
While the US unemployment rate was 11.1% in June, Owensboro's was 4.2% -- that's lower than it was a year ago last June.
So what's the town doing right?
Evidently, it's got the right mix of industries for a pandemic: Health care providers, bourbon and tobacco producers, and makers of personal protective equipment are among the city's biggest employers, reports CNN Business' Chauncey Alcorn.
The city has suffered some job losses, particularly in its restaurant and small business communities, but the local working population of nearly 54,000 had just over 2,200 unemployed people in June, down from 2,499 a year ago.
Read more about the city here.
How Germany is fighting mass layoffs
Across the Atlantic, Germany's unemployment rate is also far lower than the US jobless rate.
While Germany's GDP logged its worst slump on record in the second quarter, its unemployment rate only ticked up a few notches.
The country's Kurzarbeit program explains the discrepancy.
The so-called "short-time work program" protects German jobs by allowing companies to reduce workers' hours and wages, which are then subsidized by the state, reports CNN Business' Hanna Ziady. Around 6.7 million German employees are currently working in this way, according to one economist.
The social insurance program helped Germany's labor market stabilize during the 2008 financial crisis, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out during the pandemic.
Read more about how Germany's economy is faring here.
Working inside the 'NBA Bubble'
The pandemic has changed the way many of us do our jobs.
And journalists covering the NBA this season are finding this to be especially true. They are now working inside a bubble in Orlando, Florida.
To keep everyone safe, the NBA created a quarantine zone inside Disney World to keep players and staff from getting sick. The "NBA Bubble" includes 20 reporters and 22 teams, and will last through October, report CNN Business' Frank Pallotta and Kerry Flynn.
There are strict rules inside the bubble, which can include daily testing for reporters and wearing a proximity alarm to ensure proper social distancing is maintained.
A reporter from Sports Illustrated, who has been in the bubble since July, describes the experience as having "a 'Groundhog Day' element to it. Another reporter came prepared with a stash of booze.
Check out the full story on what it's like inside the bubble.
Coffee break
Workplace burnout is common -- especially in our current environment.
If you are feeling stretched to the max these days and on the verge of burning out, you might not think you have time for a workout session.
But you can find five minutes, right?
This workout from Stephanie Mansour, host of "Step It Up With Steph" on PBS, combines cardio and strength training and can be completed in as little as five minutes.
Get your sweat on here.
"four" - Google News
August 05, 2020 at 01:59AM
https://ift.tt/3fpNip7
Four-day workweek? Yes, please - CNN
"four" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ZSDCx7
https://ift.tt/3fdGID3
No comments:
Post a Comment