As our society evolves, one concept that has been talked about for years is the 4-day work week. Today, I read this article about how billionaire hedge fund investor and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen believes the 4-day work week is on the way and that’s why he’s one of the major investors in the PGA Tour’s evolving model. The idea behind a four-day workweek is to achieve the same results in fewer hours so people have more time to pursue other interests, spend time with loved ones, and manage their lives – a work-life balance. Proponents say companies could benefit through increased sales, decreased worker burnout, and lower turnover, among other positives. A study spanning from 1970 to 2007 looked at 24 countries and discovered that if work hours were reduced by 10 percent, there could be drops in ecological footprint, carbon footprint and carbon dioxide emissions by 12.1 percent, 14.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, thus potentially having an environmental benefit.
Due to the pandemic’s impact and the rise of remote work and increased flexibility, employees now prioritize work-life balance more than ever. According to a study by Sports & Leisure Research Group, as of July, 2023, 51% of respondents prefer a 4-day workweek. By March, 2024, that had declined to 41%. With remote work having become a more prominent option for some, it begs the question of whether the popularity of this concept will grow, stabilize or wane. Among the disadvantages of the 4 day work week are less time to get things done, potentially higher stress levels, negative impact on customer satisfaction and service levels and the morale boost being short-lived have been cited. In some cases, the lack of human interaction has been cited by many workers seeking the personal interaction that was lost during COVID.
The concept of the 4-day work week is of great interest for golf clubs and course owners, who could find themselves with a 50% increase (from 2 to 3) of “weekend” days with more demand, higher green fees and more leisure time for members and patrons to spend on golf. The “flip” side of this would include wear and tear on the course, higher maintenance costs, and quite possibly pressure to keep the number of members at a club lower to limit stress on the tee sheet.
Some questions I’ve considered include:
- Would there be more than 3 “weekend” days? Some folks might have Friday-Sunday off while others would have Saturday-Monday free. Friday-Monday could be “weekend busy”.
- While presumably daily-fee facilities would benefit from more high fee weekend play, would private clubs be negatively impacted by a reduction in membership capacity from more frequency of play by members?
- Would golf course maintenance costs be impacted?
- Would golf course maintenance practices be impacted by fewer “quiet” or even closed days since some clubs close on Mondays?
- If people had more leisure time would it really reduce the carbon footprint since they’d be free to pursue leisure activities more?
According to my friend, Jon Last of Sports & Leisure Research Group, despite a somber national mood about the economy, leisure spending is thriving, as he explains in “Thriving in a Vibecession – Golf Personifies our Economic Oxymoron”. Like many, I wonder how sustainable the COVID induced surge in golf is and where the industry is headed. With the considerable recent investment in improvements and enhancements to many golf facilities (and more planned), many in the industry have bet big on golf’s future growth. It would seem that the potential for a 4-day work week would factor considerably into this analysis in the future.
When COVID first descended upon us in 2020, golf was in the midst of a deep recession, having lost players and courses. Many (including myself) wrongly predicted that golf would continue to struggle, especially with widespread course closures, restrictions on events and a variety of safety motivated on-course practices. Here we are, in the middle of a golf boom, that while seemingly leveling out has saved many courses and clubs from closure and brought new energy ot the game and investment in golf facilities that had historically been reserved for other real estate market segments.
Nobody knows how a 4-day work week would impact golf. Newton’s third law of motion simply states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. What other industries lost during COVID was gained in some ways by golf. Hopefully, if we evolve to a 4-day work week, golf will benefit again and achieve sustainable growth, adding value and promoting investment in and development of golf course and club facilities.