The 4-Day Work Week at Buffer
In keeping with our values of full transparency, we are documenting our journey into the four-day workweek on this page as well as providing resources for any companies looking to adopt it
Why do we have a 4-Day Work Week?
In May 2020, due to COVID-19 among other reasons, Buffer’s CEO Joel Gascoigne pushed to trial a four-day workweek across the team.
The trial was a rousing success, with increased productivity and general wellbeing improvements marking the four-day workweek as a winner. By June 2020, the team shifted to a four-day workweek for the rest of the year.
Our Chief of Staff Carolyn Kopprasch wrote, “Since the intention was to give temporary relief from typical expectations to teammates during an especially hard and unprecedented time, we did not set goals around productivity or results. In fact, we expected a tangible drop in productivity due to reduced hours.
However, due to increased rest and reflection, many of you have shared that you felt your weekly productivity was in fact not all that different, and that your quality of work was higher while experiencing improved overall wellbeing.”
In the end, we shifted to a four-day workweek for the foreseeable future at the end of 2020.
Benefits we found
Increased productivity and happiness among 91% of Buffer team members
Improved flexibility to tend to physical and mental health, disability, caretaking responsibilities, errands, and spending time with family
Focus on intentional engagement cross-functionally
How did we do it + how can you?
Many companies are now exploring a four-day workweek and emboldening their employees to be flexible and efficient in their workweeks. We’ve been asked by a lot of companies were to even begin about experimenting with a four-day workweek—and here are our best resources and steps to kick off a discussion or test!
- We tested it on a small scale (one month), with a few key survey questions to measure success.
- We then rolled it out to a 6-month pilot trial, continually surveying our team and gathering objective productivity statistics (like lines of code written, customer satisfaction numbers, etc.)
- We clarified and finessed how we approach a four-day workweek with our customer support team. (We alternate days off amongst our support staff so that we still have 24/7 in our customer support inbox.)
- At the end of seven months of a four-day workweek, we felt enough momentum and positive reaction to commit to one more year of a four-day workweek, with added clarifications around the use of the 5th day as “overflow” and performance expectations for this as a perk.
- After nearly two years, we’ve felt more confident than ever in our new systems, though we’ll continue to question, survey, and test out different habits to work efficiently and still bond as a company. We’re still working on the ideal balance of team engagement and events within the midst of a shorter workweek.
Countries adopting a 4DWW
Permanent
- Belgium
- Lithuania
- United Arab Emirates
Considering
- Japan
Trial
- Scotland
- Spain
- Iceland
- United Kingdom (not nationally)
- Ireland (not nationally)
Companies with a 4DWW
The list is growing longer every day. Check out this directory by BuildRemote to see what companies are trialing/have adopted the four-day workweek.
View the listUseful articles we’ve written about the 4DWW
What It’s Like Working a Four Day Work Week and How We Spend Fridays Off
Jul 11, 2022
8 min read
Have you ever wondered what it's like to have a four day workweek? In this post, I detail the positive experience I've had switching to a shorter workweek while also sharing how some of my coworkers spend their Fridays off.
Umber Bhatti, Content Writter @Buffer
A Year And a Half Later, Here’s How The Four Day Workweek is Going at Buffer
Jan 20, 2022
6 min read
When we experimented with a four-day workweek it was initially for one month. As our CEO, Joel Gascoigne [https://twitter.com/joelgascoigne], wrote about in
Nicole Miller, Director of People @Buffer
How We Serve Our Customers While Working a 4-Day Work Week
Jun 8, 2021
6 min read
In this post, we share how our Customer Advocacy team has adjusted their schedules, goals, and mindset to acclimate to and thrive in a 4-day work week, all while supporting thousands of customers.
Åsa Nyström, VP of Customer Advocacy @Buffer
When Taking Fridays Off Can Help Our Team Get More Done: An AMA on the 4-Day Work Week
Apr 20, 2021
9 min read
Since we first kicked off a 4-day work week in May 2020, people have had a lot of questions about it. What day are we
Joel Gascoigne, CEO and co-founder @Buffer
4-Day Work Weeks: Results From 2020 and Our Plan for 2021
Feb 18, 2021
7 min read
In March and April of 2020, work and life as we knew it was changing. I surveyed our team members (all 84 of whom are
Nicole Miller, Director of People @Buffer
Buffer Is Moving to a 4-Day Workweek for the Rest of 2020
Jun 17, 2020
5 min read
We’ve decided to conduct a long-term pilot of the 4-day workweek. See our results so far and what we're adding next.
Courtney Seiter, Former Director of People @Buffer
We’re Trying a 4-Day Workweek for the Month of May
https://buffer.com/resources/4-day-workweek/
3 min read
As April comes to a close, and we look ahead to another month where our global team is living in various forms of lockdown and isolation, I decided
Joel Gascoigne, CEO and co-founder @Buffer