MINNEAPOLIS — Sounds sweet, doesn't it? Work four days a week, and have three days off.
That's exactly what Microsoft employees in Japan had during the summer during their "Work Life Choice Challenge." CNBC reported that the tech giant saw a nearly 40 percent jump in productivity.
So this got us thinking about how this could apply to Minnesota. Turns out, there are already several places in the state where a four-day work week is in order.
For the Maynard, Clara City and Raymond (MACCRAY) Public Schools district, four-day work weeks are old news.
"MACCRAY was I believe one of the first int he state to start the four day week and that would have been in 2007," Superintendent Sherri Broderius said.
For 12 years, teachers, students and parents of the MACCRAY schools have dodged the case of the Mondays. Broderius said the system has been quite popular.
"Families get a full weekend to be together," she said. "I've also heard grandparents have grandparents day on Monday and they actualyl get the whole day to spend time with their kids. And families really appreciate that."
Teachers and staffers love it too. Broderius said Mondays are errand days, resulting in fewer days missed at school.
"What I am most proud of is how our teachers use Mondays," Broderius said. "In addition to professional development, the teachers use Mondays to catch up on late work, maybe they just come in for a couple of hours."
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However, just because the system works in West Central Minnesota, doesn't mean it will work everywhere. Nancy Lyons is the CEO of Clockwork, a Minneapolis-based work place that touts flexible scheduling. She said as much as she wants to give everyone four days of work, she can't do it alone.
"I think it would be hard right now," Lyons said. "I think we need more behemoths like Microsoft to set the precedent. They need to bring it here from Japan and make i more than an experiment."
She said being wedge in a world that marches to a five-day week beat makes it hard for lone four-day week companies to deliver.
"It's always about money," she said. "How much will we lose if we as a culture sacrifice that additional day? And I think what we're missing is that when we fuel our people, we fuel our pocketbooks."
Culture is difficult to shift after all. However, Lyons said if big corporations lead, it just might happen.
"These organizations have huge populations," Lyons said. "If they start making that move, they'll be pioneers moving in the right direction and the rest of us will follow suit and it will happen faster."