It seems some cities are rushing into adapting to a 4-day work week because of budget concerns. Yet, sometimes the cost savings are very small. Instead, these cities use organizational values, rather than money, to make the case for adopting or rejecting a 4-day work week schedule.
In March 2009, the City of Palmdale in Palmdale, Calif. switched many of their departments to a 4/10 work schedule, but expect to only save $10,000. You can access the copy of their press release here. Cost savings is not the main reason why they switched, however. They say the change is primarily to “boost morale” and improve job satisfaction, with cost savings as a secondary benefit.
The city of Hoquiam, Washington recently abandoned their attempt at switching to a 4-day work week because the cost saving benefits did not outweigh the decreased availability of services provided to the public.
So, Hoquiam did not switch to a 4-day work week because they value keeping services available to the public. Palmdale did switch because it values employee satisfaction. It might be interesting to consider organizational values when determining if a 4-day work week is an option for a particular agency.
