FM newsroom – survey, workplace. Although the preferences and attitudes of the youngest and oldest generations of the working world differ on many issues, an interesting finding of the survey conducted by Colliers International is that Generation Z and Boomers show a high degree of agreement in their preferences regarding working hours. The shortened working week opened the gap between the generations the most.
According to a survey conducted by the Colliers company among 503 respondents, standard working hours are enough to complete work tasks for 46% of respondents. Another 16% of respondents, most often from age groups Z and Boomers, even state that part-time work would be enough for them to complete work tasks. More than a third of respondents (38%), on the other hand, agreed that they do not have time to fulfil their agenda during standard working hours – Officeinforent.cz reports.
“When we focus on the responses of individual generations, we find that millennials, i.e. people between the ages of 28-43, are most often pursuing their tasks during standard working hours. Half of them would need 30-40 hours a week to work. Less than 30 hours would be enough for up to 28% of respondents from the youngest generation of Z workers,” says Jana Vlková, director of the Workplace Advisory and Office Agency department at Colliers.
Flexibility and work-life balance are key
In the Czech Republic, the concept of the four-day working week was tested in a modified form (the so-called compressed week), for example, by companies from the field of IT and business services. As part of a compressed work week, they allowed employees to spread their work duties over 4 days a week. Two-thirds of the companies that tested the compressed work week even stated that it significantly helped them attract new talent. Their employees were then happier, less stressed and more efficient.
More than half of the respondents would welcome the possibility of shortening the working week. Ideally for four days and in addition as an employee benefit, i.e. under the condition of maintaining the current financial evaluation. One of the working days they would like to work from home. This suggests that flexibility and work-life balance are key for many people. Less than a third of surveyed employees (27%) prefer a classic work week, even with the option of working from home two to three times a week.
Two-thirds (65%) of the youngest generation Z would specifically like the four-day working week. This is followed by Boomers (58%), which may signal that older generations value time spent with family or travel more after many years in the workforce.
“An interesting finding of the survey is the closeness of the views of the youngest and oldest generations, although their preferences and attitudes on many issues usually differ. Both of these groups show greater agreement in their preferences regarding working time and even in the opinion that they would be comfortable with three-quarter working hours. This tendency was even more evident in their support for the four-day working regime. It was the shortened work week that opened the intergenerational gap the most. The difference between the youngest workers and Generation X, as well as millennials, is a surprising 15%,” – says Jana Vlková.
