This Company Making Dove and Vaseline Expands Experiment with 4-Day Workweek [Jjinbit]

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Unilever, a global household goods company with a 140-year tradition, is famous for Dove and Vaseline. This UK-based company has recently gained attention for another reason over the past two years: it is experimenting with a '4-day workweek.' In December 2020, Unilever began a trial at its New Zealand branch where employees maintained their salaries but reduced their working hours by 20%.

After spending 18 months in this arrangement, on the 1st, Unilever decided to extend the 4-day workweek experiment to its Australian branch following New Zealand. According to Bloomberg and other sources, Unilever plans to conduct a 12-month trial starting from the 14th of next month with about 500 Australian employees. As in New Zealand, salaries will be kept at 100% while working hours are reduced. The key is to complete the work that was previously done in 5 days within 4 days.

Regarding the reason for expanding the experiment to Australia, Unilever stated, "The results from New Zealand showed strong outcomes in business goals, including sales growth," and added, "At the same time, many employees felt more engaged with the company, and frequent absences decreased by 34%." They also noted, "Individual employee well-being improved, and stress levels dropped by 33%." This clearly demonstrates an effect of increasing productivity while helping employees find a better work-life balance.

Where was time saved? According to reports, Flashd Zober, Unilever’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), revealed that shortening meeting times was significant. By saving meeting time, each employee was able to secure 3 to 3.5 hours per week. Employees also saved time on sending emails. CTO Zober emphasized that smooth communication between managers and employees was key to the success of this experiment.

The experiment Unilever will conduct in Australia is expected to attract attention again. The 4-day workweek trial in New Zealand involved 81 employees, but this number will expand to 500 employees. This increase in scale will allow comparison of how changes in work systems affect the organization. Unilever has 148,000 employees worldwide, and it is expected that the company will consider expanding the program company-wide based on the results of the Australian trial.

Another notable point in Unilever’s experiment is that the 4-day workweek is applied only to office workers. It is not applied to factory workers, so differences in work systems may affect organizational culture. Although there was some consideration of extending the program to factory workers, for now, the experiment is focused on office workers first, with plans to explore broader application later. We will watch closely to see what results this carefully phased experiment in a large corporation will produce.

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is short for ‘Jeong Hyunjin’s Business Trend’ and ‘Real Business Trend.’ It is a segment that shows trends in 'Work' such as organizational culture and HR systems after the pandemic. Based on analyses from foreign media and major overseas institutions that have not received much attention so far, we will deliver fresh and differentiated information and perspectives.