Chris Langer, top right, co-founder of CMYK, a digital design agency, speaks with an staff member at their office in New York, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Last year, Langer started hearing chatter about the four-day work week, so he decided to try it out during the summer. , workers across the country may be dreaming of a seaside escape or cutting out early to watch a movie in an air-conditioned theater.
Michael Wieder, co-founder of Lalo, which makes baby and toddler products, thought summer hours were a good fit for his 32 employees because so many of them – about 75% -- are parents. Greg Hakim, owner of Corporate Ink in Boston, which offers PR services to emerging tech companies, said he uses summer hours as both a recruitment and retention tool. He plays up summer hours in job descriptions and said the perk has helped him retain staff – particularly during the pandemic when others found it hard to keep workers.
The hardest part was figuring out what to offer people who worked in his brick-and-mortar shop, who also fill online orders, since they had to work normal hours to keep the store running. He decided to give logistics-side workers Friday afternoons off while the six staff who work on the brick-and-mortar side and do customer service for online orders get off on Mondays, when the store was closed. Some workers can sign on remotely to answer customer queries if they want to, but it is not required.
“We’re small, so, it’s easy to have a discussion with everybody on like what’s real and how everyone’s feeling, if they’re feeling stressed out, can they get their work done,” he said. Of course, summer hours don’t work for every company. Retail stores risk losing customers to big box stores or others that are open for more hours. And employees that are paid by the hour rather than set salaries can balk at getting paid for fewer hours.