Gen Y Speaks: A 4-day work week feels a pipe dream, but here’s why I hope to see it happen within my generation

I remember being a “victim” of the 5.5-day work week as a student in the late 1990s.
Instead of the five-day work week that officially began in the civil service in 2004, the norm at the time was to work for an additional half a day over the weekends.
Like most Singaporeans, my parents had work to attend to every Saturday morning, and this expectation trickled down to school as well.
Even at the age of nine, I vividly recall my bitterness at missing the Saturday morning cartoons that played on TV, because for a year in primary school, my stern and hardworking Chinese teacher decided the whole class needed to come back for supplementary classes.
In a way, my life still has not changed much.
Although society moved to a five-day work week by the time my friends and I entered the workforce, most of us usually end up working “unofficially” on weekends. 
It’s almost impossible to arrange to meet my best friend, who works in insurance, on weekend mornings, as she always has client appointments at that time. 
The teachers I know often spend their weekends poring over lesson plans too in that timeframe. And if you count the hours, for those who work desk-bound jobs, a work-free weekend would usually mean burning through late nights on weekdays.
So now that the talk of a four-day work week has surfaced, I am sceptical of how it would work in Singapore. 
In July 2021, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng opened the doors to the four-day work week by saying that any employer who wishes to implement it for their employees is allowed to since there are no legal obstacles.
In 2022, researchers in Britain launched a trial in which 61 organisations and about 2,900 workers voluntarily adopted truncated work weeks, and found that at the conclusion of the experiment, most companies did not want to go back to the five-day standard.
Recently, I’ve seen job ads of some companies here in Singapore dangling such carrots in front of prospective jobseekers, promising better work-life balance with shorter working hours and flexible work arrangements.
Maybe I’m just inefficient, but can most of us really complete all our tasks in four days?  
For one, as a freelance writer, I already determine the hours and days that I work. And it so happens that I find myself working on weekends sometimes. 
Don’t get me wrong: Just the thought of a shorter work week makes me happy. It is the exact feeling people get when they anticipate a long weekend. 
This is a list of things I would probably do in that free time:
And if a four-day work week really does become a reality, hopefully my friends and family members would also share the same schedule so that we could meet up more often.
At this point, you might be thinking that my plans seem frivolous. I admit that they definitely do not sound like the most productive way to spend time.
I’m slightly sheepish to say that at this moment, I have no plans to go for a SkillsFuture course to upgrade myself, though I recognise that lifelong learning does make a difference to boost employability.
If I spent fewer days in the office, would I use my free time on personal and career development? I’m not sure if I will.
But I am quite sure that, at least from a psychological perspective, I would feel more relaxed and content. After all, there is research that shows that people who are less stressed are better at their jobs.
Besides that, why does it always need to boil down to productivity?
I can imagine the concerns about manpower shortages and logistics nightmares with a four-day work week. I already hear warnings about how the costs would be passed on to consumers.
I was horrified to read about the 9-9-6 (9am to 9pm, six days a week) culture in tech companies in China recently. 
Could the “lying flat” movement in China – which is described as people opting out of the culture of overwork and consumerism – be a result of this reality?
China is also facing rising youth unemployment. In June, its unemployment rate in June was a record-breaking 21.3 per cent, and the country stopped publishing the statistic in August.
For a moment, I even considered myself lucky that I was far away from such a work culture.
But I was recently shocked to hear the announcement that preschools in Singapore will scrap the requirement for a six-day work week and align with the five-day work week normal from Jan 1, 2025.
One reason for the change, other than the fact that most parents don’t need the Saturday service, is that it could promote better working conditions and attract more people to the industry.
As pointed out in a recent Big Read by TODAY, experts said the real issue is the heavy workload, which makes it seemingly impossible to cram all our tasks into four days.
But I believe a change is near, that is if my conversations with my friends are any indication.
They stay in their jobs, not solely because of passion or ambition, but because the job pays them well enough to sustain their wants and needs. And this includes paying for that plane ticket to get away from work.
At this point, I know that some might scoff at the lack of drive or hunger at work, and how it used to be like “back in the day”. 
But there is no shame if vacations are your main motivation for working. Wanting a break from work should not be seen as laziness either. 
In many countries, many young people are no longer convinced that slogging away is the only route to happiness, but they also want to be able to afford their vacations. 
In Singapore, many people my age probably feel the same too. We don’t need to be working to the bone, but we want to be more efficient and not be penalised for completing our work earlier so that we can have more time for ourselves.
A survey of Singapore youths between 18 and 35 last year showed that two-thirds of respondents wanted a four-day work week, even if it meant working longer hours each day.
Also significant was the fact that about 70 per cent also felt that it was possible to achieve their long-term goals without working beyond traditional office hours. 
Hopefully, all of these means that managing to fulfil one’s task in four days – instead of five – would look good on a resume or performance appraisal. 
Anecdotally, however, the most efficient and effective workers are often the most overworked, because they are often “rewarded” with extra work instead. 
To me, changing such mindsets will need well-defined job scopes, firm deadlines, and respect for others’ working hours – we need to leave the people on leave alone. 
For managers, it means recognising that just because a worker completed their task early, they shouldn’t be saddled with more.
Which leads me to my next point: A shorter work week could really encourage us to be more efficient. 
This is coming from me, a self-professed procrastinator who always seems to find speed and inspiration when deadlines are approaching.
Working from home has shown us that there are many inefficiencies involved when working in an office. 
As someone who has worked briefly in a very “old-school” workplace, I can think of some examples: long meetings, the prep that goes behind these long meetings, and long coffee breaks (I’m guilty of this one!).
I would like to believe these office quirks mean there is definitely room to work more efficiently. 
I remember the late nights in the office with no fondness, wondering to myself if I should’ve avoided dilly-dallying earlier in the day so I could head off earlier.
Although I usually had other long-suffering colleagues for company, I’m sure we definitely would have preferred to be hanging out somewhere else, instead of having to deal with inconsiderate people who send us urgent emails when the work day is almost over.
There might come a day when employers might be more open to giving their workers the choice of a four-day work week.
Of course, some might choose to work for longer hours and more days, because they are worried that it would translate to more stress at work each day.
But one could also make it a goal to work in a more efficient and disciplined way, and reap the rewards of one’s labour over a well-earned long weekend.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Linette Heng, 34, is a freelance writer who previously worked in the media and banking industry.