Traffic Jam

As we all know by now, gas prices are on the rise. As they are not declining any time soon, many companies are converting to the “4 day work week.” Whether companies decide to allow their employees to telecommute once a week, or fit their employees 40 hour work week into 4 days (10 hours a day), many business owners are trying to help their employees during this time. ABC News released a news report explaining that Birmingham, Alabama is one of the first cities adapting to this trend. Four thousand employees in the area are taking advantage of this four day work week. Other services businesses are offering include money for public transport, providing carpool arrangements, and the option of telecommuting. ABC News did a calculation as follows:

  • Average commute: 30 miles round trip
  • Average car gets: 17 miles/gallon
  • Average gallon of gas: 4.10
  • Result: 7.24 a day, 377.52 a year

This shows the estimated amount that people could save. Imagine if a whole town, state, or even the whole country did this. A lot of money could be saved, not to mention we would cut down on the amount of gas demanded and the amount of pollution we output everyday. Everyone would be better off. Utah is one of the first states converting all of their state officials to this system next month, and Arizona has been talking about doing the same for their state employees.

Time magazine recently reported about the four day work week, explaining that Brevard College in Florida went to a four day week for summer session and saved $268,000. In addition, sick leave dropped by 50%, and turnover among the staff decreased by 44%. Here at Creative Business Resources, an HR outsourcing firm we deal with lots of different clients and business owners on a daily basis. We have had to alter our processes such as dates of payroll because one of our own personal clients here in Arizona has converted to the four day work week in direct response to higher gas prices. If you are a business owner and you want to boost the morale of your employees you could implement this new trend. In addition, stay tuned for our newsletters in July and August that gives more tips on how businesses can survive and prosper in this economic downturn.