The four-day workweek is on the rise, as companies attempt to bend to the demands of modern workers, and even a handful of countries experiment with increased productivity and improved quality of life.
There’s one company in particular that has found the shortened workweek to be a resounding success: Lumen SEO, a United Kingdom-based search engine optimization company founded by young entrepreneur Aled Nelmes in 2020.
After about two years of trialing a four-day work week — 32 hours spread across Monday through Thursday, with no cut in pay — Nelmes said the effort boosted output, staff retention, and mental health.
So, he decided to double down.
“We’re abandoning the four-day work week,” Nelmes posted on LinkedIn about six months ago. “For three months we’re trialing a new way of working at Lumen SEO, where team members are to work 32 hours every week — but at any time and from anywhere.”
He clarified to add that “any time” meant that employees could work any time of the day, any time of the week. And “any place,” could be at home, in the office, or around the globe.
The 29-year-old founder and CEO wanted to make working at Lumen SEO even more enticing to existing employees and any new staff. But more than that, he had some key reasons for the pivot, including considerations for menstrual health, hormonal cycles, childcare, and weather.
“We're a female-dominant workforce, and there are periods during a woman's cycle where energy and the immune system are higher and lower, flexibility allows for women to lean into and maintain high performance around their cycle,” Nelmes wrote.
For men, on the other hand, he added, “men’s [hormonal] cycle is daily, with many men — including myself — being highest performing and focusing best early in the morning before 9 a.m.”
With the new scheduling approach, people would ideally be able to work better within their optimal hours.
As for childcare, Nelmes said that with a growing team and the opportunity for higher salaries, senior hires are more likely to join the staff.
“I want Lumen SEO to be an attractive place to work for parents,” he said, adding in parentheses, “Mums and Dads.”
And finally, he shared, weather can be unpredictable, and even when it’s not inclement outside, he wants people to be able to take advantage of the changing seasons.
“I want Lumen SEO staff to be able to take the afternoon off in the sun without the guilt or heavy admin process of booking leave,” he said.
His announcement went viral on LinkedIn, with nearly 1,000 comments and over 18,000 reactions. That was six months ago.
So, what was the result of this original three-month trial?
As of this week, it seems to still be in action, with Nelmes jumping on LinkedIn to share that he’ll be hiring for a new position with the 32-hour week included, and a new profile in the Financial Times outlining Lumen SEO’s scheduling success.
Aside from a couple of overlapping hours per week, people get to pick their hours for themselves. A software platform delegates tasks to staff each Monday and a messaging tool lets everyone know who is available or not.
Nelmes said that meetings are typically scheduled far in advance, so that is often not a concern for the flexible system.
“I would argue that, because staff members have more time outside of focused, regimented, structured work, they tend to come into the office with more ideas,” he told the Financial Times.
With the evidence of Lumen SEO, combined with data backing the improved health, well-being, and job satisfaction of employees, as well as increased productivity and less strain on the environment, Nelmes hopes to be at the forefront of a work revolution.
“There is clearly a huge amount of demand for change,” Nelmes shared on LinkedIn. “Many people are sick of the same restrictive work schedules that were adopted decades ago during the industrial age that simply aren't necessary anymore.”
“Put simply?” he added. “Work should be a life enhancer, not a life degrader.”
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Header image courtesy of Resume Genius on Unsplash
