As is the case with most workplaces, Ford underwent some pretty massive changes during the COVID-19 pandemic as people were essentially forced to work from home or other remote locations. Turns out, most workers prefer remote work versus operating from a traditional office, and the automaker’s hybrid work schedule has proven to be so popular that most employees are still working from home rather than returning to the office, even now that they can. Now, Ford is also monitoring another new trend – the four day workweek – to see if it can actually increase worker productivity, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Ford has employed a 10-hour-per-day, four day workweek model for some time now with workers at some of plants, but is still monitoring a new experiment being conducted by the New Zealand-based non-profit 4-Day Week Global, in which 3,300 workers at 70 companies in the UK will receive an extra day off each week for the next six months. “We’re always looking to learn, but we have been using this pattern for some time,” said Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker.
The experiment – the largest of its kind – will still pay workers the same amount of money with the goal of discovering whether or not those same workers will be every bit as productive – if not more productive – by working fewer hours. The theory is that workers will be much happier and healthier, as well as less stressed, by working one less day per week.
“The impact of the ‘great resignation’ is now proving that workers from a diverse range of industries can produce better outcomes while working shorter and smarter,” said Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4-Day Week Global. “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.”
We’ll have more on this experiment soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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A nice example of the performance sedan.
In the right hands, it could easily be brought back.
Still has cupholders, just in a different place.
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Most UAW labor agreements provide for time and a half after 8 hrs so when they say it’s the same pay is it 32 hrs of straight time and 8 hrs of overtime?