• Warm-up Questions

• Article Reading
• Vocabulary
• Further Discussion
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
• Do you usually go overtime?
• How many hours a week do you
work?
• What do you like most about that
job?
• If you could own your own business,
what would it be?
 Slide Title
A New Zealand financial company has found out what happens when staff only work
four days a week: stress goes down, and the same amount of work gets done.

In early 2018, Perpetual Guardian put 240 of its staff on a four-day working week for
eight weeks. The workers were paid the same amount as they were before, but
worked for 30 hours a week instead of 37.5.

The company worked with the University of Auckland and Auckland University of
Technology to look at the results of its test. They found that staff worked harder on
the four days that they were in the office compared with how much work they did
each day in a five-day week.

Staff said they felt less stressed, and felt that they had a better balance between
their work and the rest of their lives on the shorter work week.
 Slide Title
Professor Jarrod Haar at Auckland University of Technology said that people used
their extra day off for normal weekend activities.

Haar said that managers also reported their teams were more creative and gave
better customer service.

Because of the success of the test, the company decided to allow all of its full-time
employees to choose to work for four days a week instead of five starting in
November last year.

Australian advertising company Versa has also had its staff work just four days a week,
closing the office every Wednesday since July 2018. The staff still work 37.5 hours a
week, but Versa reports that they take fewer sick days now, and are happier at
work. Profits have almost tripled since the change.
• financial /fɪˈnænʃəl/ - relating to money
• balance /ˈbæləns/ - a situation when there is the right relationship
between different things
• creative /kriːˈeɪtɪv/ - having the ability to use one's imagination and
skill to come up with new ideas
• full-time /fʊl taɪm/ - for the whole working week, usually 40 hours
• advertising /ˈædvərˌtaɪzɪŋ/ - the activity and business of trying to
get people to buy products or services
• profit /ˈprɑːfɪt/ - money that a person or organization makes
 FURTHER DISCUSSION
• Would you describe your job as stressful?
Why? Why not?
• Is there anything you'd like to change about
your job? Please explain your answer.
• What would you say is the best thing about
your job? Please explain your answer.
• If you owned a business, what would you do
to make sure your employees were happy?
Please explain your answer.
• It's the work that counts, not the hours. -
Unknown. Do you agree? Why? Why not?
https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/4-day-workweeks-work-
gets-done-with-less-stress/A0ubKnYwEemQpVfHizgfmA