We all know that getting through a workday can be a grind. But what if your work week was just 4 days long?
It's a model that more businesses are trying out.
"There was no breaks. I was working at night, i was working early in the morning, I was working on the weekends," said Amanda Wessel, sales associate at a Philadelphia bakery.
The nonstop work grind - it's what many have accepted as a norm. But once COVID-19 hit, something shifted.
"That is actually something I was really looking for, work-life balance," said Wessel.
During the pandemic, she quit her job in politics and started working at metropolitan bakery in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square.
She's part of a new wave of people, not just millennials, who've realized their priorities.
"People want more time to live their life, they want more time to pursue their interest, they want more time with their family, they want more time for reflection," said Wendy Born, co-founder of
"People didn't want to work full weeks... suddenly, there were fewer people to work, so I had to figure something out," said Born.
At Metropolitan, Born started trying out a four-day work week... and it stuck.
It's ironic because with a staffing shortage, they didn't ask employees to work more hours.
They scaled back the workload, and as a result, boosted productivity - attracting and keeping employees.
"Our retention has been remarkable actually. I've had people with us for years now, and people who started at the beginning of the pandemic who have stayed," said Born.
This model is catching on with big corporations too like Panasonic, Microsoft, and Kickstarter.
