A 3-day workweek? One Chick-fil-A proprietor is making it work like gangbusters
At least since February 2022.
His program condenses a full 40-hour work week into just three consecutive days.
It divides the staff into two rotating groups, called “pods,” that rotate between three-day blocks of 12- to 14-hour shifts.
So what are the benefits of the 3-day workweek?
Employees get two full weekends and 7 consecutive days off every month (Chick-fil-A is only open 6 days a week).
Employees also know their schedule in perpetuity and can plan their lives in advance.
And they work with the same people every shift, which helps build a strong culture and camaraderie in a high-turnover industry.
Seems brilliant to me given the “quiet quitting” and rejection of hustle culture springing up in younger generations. And the application numbers would seem to support that; the store recently had 429 applications for ONE full-time position.
Will others adopt this model? Could YOU?
And how might it affect the economy, if at all? (A topic for another time).
On a related economic note, I expect virtually no labor force growth in the coming years.
Why?
Because Boomers are entering their retirement years at the same rate that Gen Z is entering the workforce; 4.2M per year. Check out the graphic below.
But with this movement among younger Americans to reject “hustle culture,” you can’t expect Gen Z to join the traditional workforce at the same rate that boomers are leaving it.
Think about this…
10,000 baby boomers are retiring daily. 19% of them own small businesses.
Some absurd percentage of millennials and Gen Z’ers want to be Youtube stars, Twitch streamers, Instagram models, etc. They DO NOT want to own a “Grandpa” business like plumbing, insurance, auto mechanic shops, and so on.
So here’s a question to contemplate…
What will happen to all the “manual-labor” small businesses?
Eventually some will be automated, sure. But robots can’t diagnose your HVAC system and repair it. At least not yet.
It would be up to the 20 and 30-somethings to fill the void left by retiring boomerpreneurs, and I’m not sure they want to.
Bottom line: the next generation of entrepreneurs doesn’t want to own and operate “real life” businesses like past generations.
Do you see an opportunity there?
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!