WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — With companies discussing the shorter work weeks, WPTV spoke to experts about what this could mean for mental health.
Dr. Rachna Buxani-Mirpuri said a shorter work week could help avoid burnout.
"The productivity level of workers, when it increases, they can actually achieve what they need to achieve," Buxani-Mirpuri said. "We don't need that fifth day, because they are that much more focused, there's that much more energy.”
However, a former nurse expressed concerns about longer hours.
"I did 12-hour shifts, and you'd work four [days] in a row, and you were so exhausted you couldn't enjoy your time off,” she told WPTV. "The expectation of a four-day work week and trying to fit all those hours into four days is unrealistic if you want quality."
Buxani-Mirpuri agreed that the answer to shorter work weeks isn't to require longer days.
"You can't have a four-day work week where you are working 12 hours a day, because it's still going to increase stress levels and cause burnout," she said.
RELATED: Shorter work weeks become more common as employees seek better work-life balance | Shorter work week gaining traction in US
Florida Atlantic University professor Dr. Robin Vallacher also expressed concerns about working less days.
"The immediate effect of a four-day week, it's pleasurable, sure you have more time to yourself, but what does that do to your perception of work," Vallacher said. "It could lower the motivation in going back to work. We do know in psychology that there's often a zero-sum relationship between motives— you change one motive it's often at the expense of the other."
He also said it's difficult to put all jobs under one umbrella.
"One size does not fit all," he said. "For some occupations it could be great, others less so. And we have to understand what the potential tradeoffs are."
