Energy surge prompts move to 4-day work week in US

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Skyrocketing energy costs have fueled fresh interest in the four-day workweek across the United States as a means to help workers as well as employers cope with the surge.

In Birmingham, Alabama, city officials decided to implement a four-day week starting July 1 for some 2,400 municipal employees and later in the year for around 1,000 police and firefighters.


The move, allowing employees to work four 10-hour days, may save 500,000 to one million dollars annually in fuel costs alone for the employees, according to April Odom, director of communications for the mayor’s office in the city of 242,000 people.

“Our employees are very excited and ready to start today,” Odom told AFP.

“Our biggest motivation was to give our employees a cost savings due to gasoline prices here. But it will also give parents an extra day with their children and save on day care costs.”

Some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) north in Maynard, Minnesota, the MACCRAY School District will start a four-day week for the upcoming school year, saving around one percent of its budget, mainly from transportation costs.

AFP