Scribd
Upload
9 views

attachment

The document discusses the concept of a 4-day work week, highlighting a global pilot program involving over 180 companies and thousands of employees. It explores the origins of the initiative, the impact of the pandemic, and the requirements for participation, as well as the perceived benefits and challenges of implementing such a schedule. Additionally, it includes various activities and questions for discussion related to the topic.

Uploaded by

Expert Language School
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views

attachment

The document discusses the concept of a 4-day work week, highlighting a global pilot program involving over 180 companies and thousands of employees. It explores the origins of the initiative, the impact of the pandemic, and the requirements for participation, as well as the perceived benefits and challenges of implementing such a schedule. Additionally, it includes various activities and questions for discussion related to the topic.

Uploaded by

Expert Language School
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

THE CASE OF A 4-DAY WORK WEEK

Before watching

1. Discuss these questions.

a. How many hours a week do you work? What is your typical work
day like?

b. Have you heard that some companies have changed their work
schedule to a 4-day work week? What do you think are the main
reasons for this change?

c. Use the mind map to compare a four-day work week and a five-day
work week. How similar or different do you think they are?

productivity salary

performance A 4-day work week


company
vs. a 5-day work week
earnings

physical health mental health

2. Read this excerpt from a CNN video about the Global 4-day
week pilot program.

"More than 180 companies and thousands of employees around the


globe have joined a 6-month pilot program to see how a 4-day work
week could function for their businesses. And so far, the experience
has been..."

3. What do you think the program participants will say about the
experience? Write down some ideas.
While watching

4. Watch the first 28 seconds and check if your predictions in


exercise 3 were correct.

5. Continue watching until 1:22" and write down some ideas


mentioned about these topics.

a. When the 4-day work week originated.

b. How the pandemic accelerated this initiative.

c. What employers learned from remote work.

6. Juliet Schor mentions three requirements to participate in the


program. Read them and predict what the missing words are.
Then continue watching until 1:50" and check your answers.

No __________ in pay.

There must be a meaningful __________ in work time.

Employees have to figure out how to maintain their __________ and


their __________ while working 32 hours a week.

7. Samantha Losey is a managing director at a Communications


agency. Continue watching until 2:23" and choose the words and
phrases she mentions.

a. At the agency, they look after / took after brands and strategy.
b. The pandemic was really, really challenging. Everyone was
getting super vent out / burnt out.
c. We were just sort of relentlessly / restlessly working, tight to /
tied to our computers just constantly.
d. The team were / weren't pretty excited about the whole thing. But
to kind of set / get the powers that need / be to think it was a good
idea was quite difficult.
8. John Leland is the Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter.
Complete his ideas with the words in brackets in the right form.
Then watch until 2:50" and check your answers.

a. There is enough evidence out there that suggests that companies


can __________(success) transition to a 4-day week work while
maintaining or improving their __________ (to produce).
b. But we were also looking at the way that work was changing
__________ (give) the pandemic, we moved to __________ (full)
remote and we just saw people that were __________ (to burn out)
and tired.
c. And retaining our employees, making it __________ (ease) to hire
employees and making sure our employees were happy at home is
__________ (real) why we decided to pursue it.

9. Watch until 3:32" and explain the benefits Samantha's team


have seen after four months in the program.

10. Finish watching the video and match these sentence halves
about some of the benefits employees perceive during the
program.

a. They don't waste... ...communication styles.

b. They communicate... ...new technologies.

c. They reduce... ...higher hourly productivity.

d. They change... ...meetings.

e. They get the benefits of... ...much time anymore.

f. They have... ...in much faster ways.

After watching

11. Discuss these questions.

a. What do you think about the 4-day work week program?


b. How realistic would it be to implement in your workplace?
Follow-up task

12. Choose one of these tasks.

Class debate Could a four-day working week become


the norm? Which businesses could benefit from this
initiative? Which businesses couldn't implement it?
What are some of the disadvantages of this program?

Hypothesis Imagine your company decides to


implement the 4-day work week program. What would
you do on your free day? How would you organize your
new routine?

Role play Imagine your company has just finished the 6-


month 4-day work week pilot program and decided to
go back to the 5-day work week. Talk to your manager
and state your opinion.

Reading Read the article called "Five reasons why the


four-day week won’t work" and discuss the ideas
mentioned with your classmates / teacher.

Opinion essay Write about the pros and cons of


implementing the 4-day work week program in your
workplace.

EFL Creative Ideas - ©2022

You might also like