Buổi 7: Reading – Matching headings ở bài 7 đoạn (thử nghiệm tuần làm 4 ngày)

Four days a week

(Bài đọc tự viết; công ty, nhân vật và số liệu là giả định.)

A When the software company Brightline announced that its staff would work four days a week with no reduction in pay, many observers assumed it was a publicity stunt. The company’s founder, Daniel Ortiz, insisted it was nothing of the kind. Staff turnover had reached worrying levels, and exit interviews suggested that exhaustion, rather than salary, was the main reason people were leaving.

B Before the trial began, managers spent two months redesigning how work was done. Regular meetings were cut from an hour to twenty-five minutes, and a rule was introduced that internal messages should not expect an immediate reply. Each team also agreed on a short list of tasks that could simply be stopped because they added little value.

C To judge whether the experiment had worked, the company did not rely only on how staff felt. It compared the number of projects completed, customer satisfaction scores and sick days with the same six months of the previous year. Staff were also asked to complete an anonymous well-being survey every month.

D The results were largely encouraging. Output remained at roughly the same level, customer satisfaction rose slightly and the number of sick days fell considerably. Most notably, only two employees left the company during the trial, compared with eleven in the same period a year earlier.

E Yet the picture was not entirely positive. Several employees reported that the remaining four days had become noticeably more intense, with little time to chat with colleagues or think creatively. A few said they felt guilty taking a lunch break, and some customer-facing staff struggled because clients still expected replies on Fridays.

F Sceptics outside the company have also raised wider questions. Some economists argue that a model which works for a software firm may be impossible in hospitals, schools or factories, where work cannot easily be compressed. Others point out that Brightline’s staff knew they were part of a high-profile experiment, which may have made them work harder than they would in normal conditions.

G Brightline has decided to keep the four-day week, but with adjustments. Customer service staff now take turns covering Fridays and have a different day off instead, and the company has introduced a weekly ‘slow hour’ in which no meetings may be scheduled. Ortiz admits that the model is still evolving. “We haven’t found the perfect answer,” he says, “but we’ve found a better one than we had before.”

Flexible Working Policy (extract) (giả định)

1. Employees who have completed their probation period may request flexible working.
2. Requests must be made in writing and will receive a reply within 14 days.
3. Options include compressed hours (e.g. 4 × 10 hours) and flexible start times between 7.00 and 10.00.
4. Customer-facing roles must ensure cover is available during opening hours.
5. Arrangements will be reviewed after 3 months.