New Zealanders Cut Friday Working Hours To Get Ready For An Early Weekend: Study

A majority of New Zealanders believe in a "Friday feeling" and snatch away the last two hours of the Friday working day to get ready to start the weekend, a survey has revealed. The NZ Herald reported that the survey was conducted by research firm Colmar Brunton.

According to the survey, the average working Kiwi gets into a low gear mode by 3.29 pm on Friday afternoon, finish up the work at 4.04 pm and "switch off" for the weekend. The research was conducted in August and was commissioned by Mitre 10. It studied New Zealanders' habits towards in the build-up to the weekend. It found people in the Bay of Plenty start working earlier than anyone else in the country, and wind up around 3 pm. But people from the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay treat will treat Friday like any other day.

Rejuvenation

University of Auckland senior lecturer Dr Helena Cooper-Thomas sees nothing wrong in it. She says the recovery from the working week will allow people to re-activate and bounce back with high motivation and vitality. Thomas suggested that employees should be helped by their bosses in becoming more productive. At the end of the week, employees can think about tasks they want to accomplish. Then identify the tasks that are more motivating or useful and require less cognitive or physical effort.

However, a BBC report highlighted the flipside of Friday feeling. It said many British businesses are losing more than £50m a year because of employees skipping the work place on Friday afternoons. They make excuses for starting the weekend such as long lunch, or an out-of-office meeting.

A software firm even hired the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to calculate the cost of such employee absence. According to the CIPD, the average level of employee absence in the UK increased the first time in two years. It found that more and more workers are taking Friday afternoon as an unofficial holiday. Some experts have tips to avoid that Friday feeling or the slowdown. They say if the trend is pervasive in the work place, the professionals must seek a new approach to their job.