While the four-day workweek is on the rise in the U.S., the most visible success stories are at small companies with highly skilled labor. This test doesn’t mean that employees will necessarily get three days off in a row, reports NBC News.
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And the company will have a better chance of holding on to their employees, reducing the high turnover rate and costs of retraining new workers, a common problem at most retailers.
There’s another slight catch, as workers will have to work on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure the stores are covered across their busiest times.
The company has been having trouble retaining female employees with children, with many citing the need for more flexibility in their work schedule as their reason for leaving the company.
But now, the brand is making headlines for its latest work week experiment.
Japanese fashion retail giant Uniqlo will be setting up shop in Canada next year, and it may bring a labour-market innovation with it: A four-day work week.
In return, it will help the company keep qualified employees, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo. That included opening stores in the Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for the first time. The chief executive, Ryan Carson, has said that employee retention is “amazing”.
Retention is particularly important to Uniqlo, even for its lowest-skilled workers.
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Uniqlo has come under fire in the past for the working conditions in its Chinese factories, revealed in detail in journalist Masuo Yokota’s 2011 book The Glory and Disgrace of Uniqlo. Following internal investigations, the retailer has promised to take action to ensure ” appropriate working conditions” for the people who make its clothing. Uniqlo said it expects about 20 percent of employees to accept the offer.
