Gas prices push workers toward four-day week

Around the country, workplaces are looking at the ominous recent rise in gasoline prices to give workers an option of shifting their five-day workweek to four, thus lowering the amount of time they spend on the road, and helping to save them money. Yahoo! News has tons of details on a variety of organizations making such changes.

At Kent State university, the college offered four-day plans to 94 custodial employees and 78 took the option, reflecting very broad interest in such a setup. In one Michigan County, the option to shift to a four-day week is used as a reward for good work when salary boosts aren't available.

Four-day weeks present some challenges, namely that Fridays tend to see a whole lot of empty desks, which can be a problem in public service situations like government agencies tasked with helping citizens throughout the week. Clearly shifting to four-day weeks can require some careful planning to ensure business is done efficiently and that everyone isn't absent at the same time. 

As popular as it sounds like the four-day week is getting, I can't help but think the idea is poised to explode over the rest of the year. Why? Because $4 gas may be just the tip of the iceberg as oil prices show no signs of slowing. $6 gas? $8 gas? Even $10 for a gallon gas is being predicted by some in the near future. (I'm going to go ahead and stake my prediction on $20 for a gallon of gas right now. Watch out, America!)

How would such costs for driving impact your life? Even dropping one day of driving may not really matter if it costs $150 to fill up the Gremlin. Are far more radical shifts to the way we work on the horizon?

LINK: Workers shifting to 4-day week to save gas