Mental health experts weigh pros, cons of shorter work weeks

With the companies discussing the shorter work weeksWPTV spoke to experts about what this could mean for mental health.

Dr. Rachna Buxani-Mirpuri said a shorter work week could help prevent burnout.

“The productivity level of workers, when it goes up, they can actually achieve what they need to achieve,” Buxani-Mirpuri said. “We don’t need that fifth day, because they are much more focused, there is much more energy.”

However, a former nurse expressed concern about the longer hours.

“I worked 12-hour shifts and you worked four [days] in a row, and you were so exhausted that you couldn’t enjoy your free time,” he told WPTV. “The expectation of a four-day work week and trying to fit all those hours into four days is unrealistic if you want quality.”

Buxani-Mirpuri agreed that the answer to shorter work weeks is not to require longer days.

“You can’t have a four-day work week where you work 12-hour days, because you’ll still increase stress levels and cause burnout,” he said.

Florida Atlantic University professor Dr. Robin Vallacher also expressed concern about working fewer days.

“The immediate effect of a four-day week, it’s nice, sure you have more time to yourself, but what effect does that have on your perception of work?” Vallacher said. “It could decrease motivation to return to work. We know in psychology that there is often a zero-sum relationship between motives: you change one motive, often it’s at the expense of the other.”

He also said it’s hard to put all jobs under one umbrella.

“One size doesn’t fit all. For some occupations it might be great, others not so much. And we have to understand what the potential trade-offs are.”

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