Australian company adopts four-day work week after noticing workers were happier and more productive

An Australian media agency has permanently moved to a four-day work week after testing it out on a trial basis.

Staff at independent growth agency Claxon, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, will ditch the traditional 38-hour, five-day week in favour of slightly longer hours across four days.

The team at Claxon will have Fridays off without having their salaries or hours reduced and will still be on-call on Fridays for clients in important cases.

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Claxon founder and chief executive Daniel Willis said the decision to implement a four-day work wasn't simply about boosting staff morale.

"This isn't just about improving culture; it's about enhancing productivity and performance," Willis told media in a statement today.

"Claxon has a culture of a high-performance team, and one that runs at incredible pace with precision, and I wanted to see firsthand how an additional day of rest each week would enable our team to continue to perform long term at peak levels."

Willis said the four-day trial "exceeded expectations" and revealed clients benefited from team members who were better rested.

He said some clients reported employees "seemed to be happier and more dialled in" during feedback for the trial.

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"There seems to be a belief in agency-world that 4-day weeks don't work – clients won't be accepting, and that it just doesn't 'fit'. Well, I can confidently say that's incorrect," Willis added.

"If a highly collaborative, integrated and high-performance team like Claxon can do it, any agency can make it work."

Claxon's chief growth officer Jade Axford said her own productivity has been "through the roof" since the switch.

Willis explained the premise of a nine-day fortnight trialled by some companies just wouldn't work for his staff.

"The reality is team members ultimately end up with much more work to do when they return as the work has continued in their absence," he said. 

"Having a whole of agency 4 day week eliminates this and truly allows team members to switch off."

In tandem with a four-day week, Claxon staff also work a hybrid model with two days from home.

Employees can also choose their own hours between 7am and 5pm.

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