The key is schedule flexibility

Topics like The return to the officethe Reduction of the working day wave four -day work week They are on the debate table today. However, all these proposals are nothing more than different interpretations of a much deeper debate: that of the Flexibility of schedules For workers.

The hourly flexibility: the holy grail of the modern employee. Teleworking and hybrid models are not just passing trends, they are The silent cry of employees who yearn for greater time flexibility. The International Labor Organization (ILO) He pointed outthat flexible schedules not only benefit employees by improving the balance between professional and personal life, but also contribute to increasing the Business productivity.

The ‘Annual Labor Market Guide 2025‘From the consultant Hays, reveals that accessing a flexible work schedule is the second reason (with 24%) for which employees would consider face -to -face job, being obtained a higher salary the first reason (52%).

The four -day week: Is it a solution? Although the four -day week is an excellent proposal for many other issues related to the template well -beingthe optimization of Processes in companies and the dynamization of local economydoes not give a complete response to time flexibility. While it is true that the four -day work week model implies a time reduction that leaves a greater margin of labor conciliation, continues to be a problem for caregivers (with children or relatives in charge).

In this case, being flexible is not working one day less, but employees may vary the schedule to their convenience, provided that the number of hours worked or the agreed responsibilities are met.

Mathilde Collin, CEO of the communication platform with the Front client, warnedIn a Fastcompany article that “simply shorten the number of days we work will not solve our problem. In fact, it could increase stress and exhaustion by compressing more meetings in less days, leaving less time for creative and reflective work.” Therefore, although the idea of ​​a shorter work week is attractive, it does not approach 100% the conciliation and flexibility needs that many employees value.

The key to successful conciliation. Teleworking and other flexible work agreements, such as working for objectives or having flexible schedules, are effective not only because they offer the comfort of working From anywhere and They save transport costsbut because they allow the workday to be paused for Attend personal commitments or relatives without being subject to a schedule from nine to five.

That is the true value of teleworking or the hybrid day, and the reason why they renounce their jobs. Not only do they give up having to go to an officebut for losing the control over schedule of his day.

Return to the Flexible Office. The return to the office of some companies has generated tensions where there were not before, because this change implies a fixed assistance schedule. As revealed by Hays’ work trends report, these tensions would lower their intensity if companies include hourly flexibility in their return to the office policies.

According to him ‘Report on work flexibility trends of 2024’ Prepared by Techsmith software developer, 75% of the companies participating in the study had not included labor flexibility options in their return policies to the offices. In fact, according to Data a study From the consultant McKinsey, 38 % of mothers with young children states that, without job flexibility measures, they would be forced to reduce their workday or abandon their companies.

In Xataka | The four -day week is unfeasible for many companies. An alternative: work less hours, no less days

Image | Unspash (Eduardo Alexandre, MD Arif Jawed)