Typetec is one of a growing number of companies implementing a four-day week, inspired by a global campaign to improve workers’ work-life balance.
Dublin-headquartered Typetec has become one of the first Irish IT service providers to implement a four-day working week for employees.
The business will offer all employees 100pc pay for 80pc working hours in a bid to improve work-life balance for staff. The transition will take place in February 2022. Typetec is also planning to hire an additional eight employees by the end of next year.
Once the four-day working week is implemented by the company, its progress will be shared with researchers at University College Dublin and Boston College to measure the effectiveness of the arrangement and see how other companies could adopt a similar approach.
“Long before the pandemic, we had introduced remote working for all employees, and this has proved to be highly successful with productivity levels and staff morale seeing a significant boost,” said Paul Dooley, CEO of Typetec.
“As a company that specialises in workplace productivity solutions, we realised that a four-day week was an obvious next step for us. We held a town hall meeting to inform the staff and the reaction was so positive and there’s a tangible air of shared excitement as we look forward to next year.
“Ultimately, we want to provide every employee with a great work-life balance and enable them to build a long and rewarding career with Typetec,” he added. “We’re delighted to launch this initiative as the company turns 40 in 2022, and we believe it’s central to our continued growth and success.”
Typetec is one of a number of companies getting involved in Four Day Week Ireland’s campaign to introduce a shorter working week for Irish people. The group launched a pilot programme in June, getting employers to trial a six-month period of a shorter work week.
In October, it revealed that 17 Irish companies had signed up for its pilot programme, which will start in January 2022. Joe O’Connor, global pilot programme manager at Four Day Week, said that figure of 17 has now increased to 20 companies.
Four Day Week Ireland is supported by the Fórsa trade union, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Friends of the Earth Ireland, and several Irish businesses including JMK Solicitors, ICE Group and 3D Issue.
The Irish campaign is part of a larger, global effort to introduce a four-day week to improve workers’ work-life balance. Similar pilots have been going in the US, New Zealand, Iceland and Canada.
“The future of work has arrived,” according to O’Connor. He praised Typetec for getting involved, saying that the company was “one of these dynamic, innovative and progressive organisations.”
“We are looking forward to working with them as the roll-out of our six-month coordinated trial commences early next year,” he added.
Dooley said Typetec’s decision to move to a shorter week has been received positively so far by staff and customers.
“We are holding empowered and engaged staff-led discussions as to how this will work best for them, while also maintaining team and individual productivity targets. We’ve also begun informing our customers and they have also received the news positively and are fully reassured by our continued focus on delivering service levels that are considerably ahead of industry norms.”
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