Work-life balance is one of the controversial issues attracting an enormous amount of attention from the public all around the world. Shortening working hours, combined with lengthening rest days, is considered an effective solution to bring a host of benefits.
Firstly, by reducing working hours, employees have more time to recharge themselves and return to work with the highest productivity. For example, many research findings show that when workers have a meaningful weekend to spend time with their family or enjoy themselves by doing more exercise, they will start a new week with more energy to solve problems or serve customers effectively. Secondly, having a longer weekend helps people have opportunities to make another way to earn money along with their current full-time jobs. Indeed, the speed of inflation in some countries has dramatically increased, which results in a situation in which having only one income is not enough to sustain their lives, especially for families having just one parent who goes to work. Therefore, thanks to the development of technology, if they have more time on the weekend or rest days, they can learn to sell some products on the internet or have a side hustle.
However, some opponents argue that instead of finding another job, employees can contribute more to their current position and require an increase in their income. Since the economic crisis has been happening in almost all territories, organizations are managing to avoid bankruptcy by reducing personnel or minimizing salaries instead of bringing more jobs for their workers, which acts as a deterrent for this answer.
In summary, the advantages of reducing working hours and expanding the weekend outweigh their disadvantages. Employers and employees should carefully consider and deploy these measures in their companies to enhance the productivity of the whole organization and improve the living standards of their employees.