Shortened workweeks, flextime, enforced time off; none of these are new concepts in today's workplace.  But some U.S. state governments and organizations are turning to four-day workweeks and alternative work schedules as a way to combat the recession as well as cutting down on energy consumption.  They're having varying degrees of success. 

U.S. technology companies are some of the earliest adapters of a flexible work schedule for their employees.  Both Sun Microsystems and IBM offer their employees the ability to telecommute several days a week.  A study released in 2008 by Sun indicates that employees' daily commutes are the worst offenders when it comes to climate change, and concluded that as much of 98 percent of its employees' work-related carbon footprints were generated before they even got to the office.  Currently, more than half of Sun's employees work from home one or two days a week, and the company was able to cut its CO₂ emissions by 29,000 metric tons in 2007.  It also saved on property costs.

At IBM, the firm has developed six flexibility principles, all centered on a flexible work schedule that provides employees with a means to achieve a great work/life balance and high productivity.  IBM workers at all levels may participate in Flexible Work Options (FWO) allowing them to telecommute as long as customers' needs are consistently met.

Unfortunately, the current economy is forcing many government organizations to push their employees to take time off.  Last July, the state of Utah began a yearlong experiment targeted toward lowering its energy costs and commuters' gasoline expenses (this is when gas cost around $4 a gallon) by switching to a four-day workweek.  Thousands of government employees switched from five-day workweeks to 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday.  The order, issued by Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman, affected approximately 17,000 out of 24,000 executive-branch employees.  It did not cover state police officers, prison guards, court employees, or Utah's public universities.  State-run liquor stores also remained open on Fridays.

Switching off electricity, heat, and air conditioning on Fridays in 1,000 out of 3,000 government buildings was predicted to save close to $3 million a year out of a state budget of $11 billion, according to the governor's office.  The Department of Environmental Quality estimated that employees in just six buildings would save more than $300,000 spent on gas to commute to work.  And the Utah Department of Administrative Services expected to reduce CO₂ by about 3,000 metric tons as well as have a significant impact on air pollution in the state. 

The governor set a goal of increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020.  Several employees said while they supported the government's efforts to become more environmentally friendly, they would have to struggle to cover childcare, while others were less than enthusiastic about putting in 10-hour days even if it meant getting Fridays off.

So how's it working out?  Well, so far Utah's four-day workweeks aren't saving the state as much money as Governor Huntsman's staff had predicted.  In January 2009, Kim Hood, executive director of the Department of Administrative Services, in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, said, "At this point, I think the $3 million should be considered a stretch.  I think we need the full year of a pilot program to determine what the savings are going to be." 

But the reality is that employees have been coming into work on Fridays, energy prices have fluctuated, and temperatures have been unpredictable, making the original cost savings goal hard to reach.  And instead of closing 1,000 government buildings, the state has been able to close only 900 buildings, 500 of those leased by the state, reducing the ability to save on energy expenses.  Initial reviews show that about half of 100 buildings are reducing energy consumption by less than 10 percent.

Other states currently testing a shorter workweek include New Hampshire and Washington, and the current credit crunch has caused West Virginia and New York.  School districts in other states including Idaho, Arizona, and Ohio are considering a four-day school week.  In California, the state began it's first-ever furlough, forcing more than 200,000 state workers to take Friday, February 6, off. 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the two-day-a-month furloughs that reduce the average state worker's salary by more than 9 percent to help solve California's estimated $42 billion budget shortfall.  While state fire stations and parks stayed open, about 180 state department of motor vehicles closed for the day.  Sadly, not only did some workers feel as though they were being punished for choosing a state government job, but Schwarzenegger's office had no comment on how the furlough might also reduce energy usage or CO₂ emissions.

Faced with rising costs and lighter mail volume, the United States Postal Service is contemplating reducing its mail deliveries from six days a week to five.  Total mail volume was 202 billion in 2008, more than nine billion less than the year before.  A study done by George Mason University for the independent Postal Regulatory Commission estimated that going to five days of mail delivery would save more than $1.9 billion annually, while a USPS study placed the savings at $3.5 billion.  Either way, the environmental news website, Grist calculated a highway fuel saving of $300 million if the Post Office had implemented such a measure in 2007.

While these experiments with different work schedules in the U.S. are still shaking out, there's certainly a lesson to be learned outside the U.S.  Many European countries have already adopted a four-day workweek, finding that a shorter week not only makes employees more productive but also less stressed.  France, where most employees put in a 35-hour week, produces more gross domestic product (GDP) than the U.S., as does Norway.  Studies have long shown that longer workweeks increase productivity only in the short term.  And in the U.S., where the economy lost more than 500,000 jobs a month in the last quarter of 2008, a shorter workweek could help boost the economy as well as save on energy.

Related Reading:
Want to Save $70bn?  Get a Smart Grid
The Greening of the USPS

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