A Tiny Town In Ontario Is Now Testing Out A Four-Day Workweek & Staff Think It's Great

Could every week be a long weekend? A small town in Ontario is saying goodbye to nine to five in a move that is being praised by residents. Zorra Township's four-day workweek is a pilot program that aims to increase production hours.

According to CBC, the program will launch on a trial basis in September.

The eight-month initiative will be optional to municipal staffers, who will operate in one of two workforces.

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The first group will work from Monday to Thursday, leaving the second group to take the helm from Tuesday to Friday.

The ground-breaking experiment will also see the elimination of the standard nine to five work schedule.

Administration staff who choose to participate in a four-day week will instead work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to make up for lost hours.

The pilot was inspired by a previous workforce change that saw senior management split into separate teams to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

"We thought, is there an opportunity to look at working in a different way and delivering services to our residents in a more effective and more efficient way? So, its kind of opened our eyes," Zorra Mayor Marcus Ryan told CBC.

Employees of the clerk's office believe the option of a four-day workweek will be particularly appealing to millennials.

"It's definitely attractive, especially for the younger generation," Alycia Wettlaufer, a second-year employee told CTV.

"I know for myself I don't necessarily like the nine to five work week, and something like this is definitely attractive, especially if you want to stay long term." 

However, this isn't the first time that a four-day workweek has been introduced in Canada. 

Earlier this year an Ottawa-based tech company also announced that it would be testing out the shorter week. 

The company was also allowing their staff to work from home for the rest of the year. 

Guysborough in Nova Scotia also announced it would be testing out this new work method starting June 15.