Should Multifamily Adopt a Four-Day Workweek?

Garfield was right: Mondays are the worst.

(He was also right about lasagna. It really is delicious!)

For many of us, Mondays mean going back to work after a weekend where there somehow wasn’t enough time to take the kids to their various activities, do the yardwork, meal prep for the week, work out, do the laundry, take the dog to the groomer, return those shirts to the mall and of course do all the self-care that social media tells us we have to do like take a bubble bath with a facemask on while drinking champagne and catching up on all our books, so instead we just sat on the couch staring at the wall and/or screaming into the void. A whole five days until our precious “me time” comes around again. 

And now some companies are starting to require their employees to come back to the office after they worked from home for the past two years. It’s…a lot. Maybe that’s why some companies are considering implementing a four-day workweek. 

Image courtesy of Canva Studio via pexels.com

Beyond making the workweek shorter so that employees can have more time to take care of personal matters, there are several benefits to a four-day week. Buffer, a U.S. tech company that recently tested this out, reported on its corporate blog that the four-day workweek trial period “resulted in sustained productivity levels and a better sense of work-life balance.” According to healthline.com, a shorter workweek could also help prevent employee burnout and lead to higher job satisfaction. These are important issues to consider for employee retention any time, but especially now while we’re still in the midst of the Great Resignation. 

A shortened week doesn’t necessarily have to mean fewer hours of work overall. A recent report from Skynova that surveyed 1,001 U.S. managers and employees found that “Gen Zers were roughly 11 percent more likely than other generations to support a four-day, 10-hour workweek” as compared to the traditional five-day, eight-hour workweek.

Can Multifamily Do It?

Could a four-day week really work for the multifamily industry? After all, apartment communities aren’t offices. People live there, all week. Residents expect help with their maintenance issues, package deliveries, etc., all the time. Plus prospective renters need to tour units. 

Well, virtual tours and other tech that grew in popularity during the height of the pandemic can help with some of these issues, freeing up some employee time. Additionally, because the multifamily business is a 24/7-type gig, employee work periods can be spaced out. (A 9-5, Monday-Friday job description doesn’t really work for everyone in multifamily right now, anyway. Like, what if a resident’s toilet explodes on Saturday at 4 a.m.? That cannot wait until Monday, and, also, please stop judging me.) Maybe some employees get the Monday-to-Thursday shift, while others get the Thursday-to-Sunday. Some multifamily communities are already considering a shortened week, including Pegasus Residential, which is testing both a five-day and a four-day workweek model, according to Multifamily Dive. 

So maybe, in the near future, the “Sunday Scaries” will no longer be a thing. And then Janis from Accounting can instead start asking us if we have “a case of the Tuesdays.”

Do you think a four-day workweek could work for the multifamily industry? Is this something you’d be interested in? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Post your comments on our Facebook page or send a tweet to @MHNOnline or @jfiur.