4-day work week proposed, what this means for local students and businesses

DELMARVA – A 4 day work week sounds like a no-brainer. Work less but get paid the same.

Lawmakers nationwide are considering making it a reality but one local expert tells us how it could impact local small businesses. “If only I had an extra day between Saturday and Sunday or in between Friday and Saturday,” said Student, Quinton Smith.

A 4-day workweek is an opportunity many college students would like to see, however, its something that may do more harm than good to local businesses. “A 32-hour work week for many businesses doesn’t translate into higher productivity and there have been studies that have proven that. The shorter work week will lead to increased staffing,” said President and CEO Bill Chambers, Salisbury Chamber of Commerce.

Chambers says increased staffing is a continuing issue hiking up the price of doing business. “Businesses that operate more than 8 hours a day, which most do, you’re labor costs could significantly rise if you have to hire more staff. and we all know hiring more staff is still a challenge in 2024 and it hasn’t changed since the COVID Pandemic,” said Chambers.

Though the bill was proposed on the state level in Maryland it did not pass, however, Senator Shelly Hettleman is still working to get the shorter workweek passed for state employees saying it’s key to recruitment. “We’re having a really tough time hiring people and so we thought this would be a really creative way of attracting new, especially younger workers to Maryland,” said Senator Shelly Hettleman.

Potential young workers like Quinton Smith, soon to graduate. He says he believes the change will help with employee performance. “In terms of pay, in terms of time off, I’m willing to do more. I’m willing to give you a higher quality of me and I think that’s so important. I think that it’s a plus with this whole proposal,” said Quinton Smith.

Though the bill may not pass this year, Bill Chambers says the proposal isn’t going anywhere. “This may become a next-generation of workforce requirement so we’ll have to wait and see but I don’t think our economy is ready for that right now and certainly not here on the lower shore,” said Bill Chambers.

Senator Hettleman says that her bill will be included in the budget for the house. She is hopeful it will pass and a study will be done to see how a 4-day workweek can help state employees.

As for the national bill, we’ll have to wait to see if the measure advances.