Has the 4.5-day working week brought greater balance to our lives?

When, for instance, did the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) begin? Was it, as some have argued, with the inception of the internet of things – as far back as the 1980s? Did it start with the first iPhone in 2007?

Was the 4IR born when artificial intelligence started writing opinion pieces in The Guardian? Or did it become a thing when the World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab coined the term in 2016? Or was it the combination of all these beginnings?

The point is, any era-defining change is not down to any one isolated event, incident or product launch as much as it is about the momentum that leads to a turning point.

The same is true of the current work-life imbalance experienced by many across the Gulf. And with conditions surrounding the new Monday to Friday working week implemented in the UAE yet to fully settle into a rhythm across the region, there is a growing feeling that this new business landscape could lead to people working longer and harder, at the expense of their balance.

The 24/7 cycle of work that we experience today is the consequence of a steady stream of beginnings and shift which have slowly but surely gathered momentum until it became inevitable and unstoppable, like water rising against the wall of a dam until it spills over. We, too, have been living through years of rising waters. It just took a pandemic for us to realise.

The UAE’s counter to this always-on, online culture that has filtered through our workplaces – and now our work-from-home places – has been the switch to a four-and-a-half day working week. But nearly one quarter into this new climate, has the move stemmed the rising tide of our working expectations and boosted productivity? Or has it confirmed, as many have claimed, that there is no such thing as a work-life balance, but rather work-life rhythms, or work-life integration.

Like many million-dollar questions, there’s no straightforward answer.

As the editor-in-chief of this esteemed publication pointed out on a recent APCO Worldwide podcast episode, “this is a region that’s leaning into change and a greater working balance… but there is a long way to go.”

Indeed, from a macroeconomic and business perspective, the UAE’s alignment with international markets is nothing but a good thing as it doubles down on its ambitions to become a worldwide hub across a variety of sectors. It’s also a typically bold move.

Given the increasing competitiveness of Gulf economies, becoming the only country in the Gulf to move away from a Friday-Saturday could turn out to be a prescient move that once again sets a precedent and lays the tracks towards a new era of economic activity in the region and beyond.

In that sense, it is certainly leaning into change.

And here’s the long way to go part. Until other Gulf states follow this new direction – if they do – the people, the talent and the organisations driving this new direction will be the ones that must rise to meet the new demands on their already limited time.

Among those industries most affected by this new working structure is communications and media. Right off the bat, it should be said that for those of us in comms and media, this round-the-clock culture is the nature of the beast. Communications and media are perhaps, alongside politics, the most susceptible to sudden unexpected changes which require immediate responses.

From one tweet, one faux pas or one unforeseen event, entire battalions of reporters, advisors, crisis specialists and social media experts are expected to instantly react, cover and manage the situation. Immediacy, urgency and irregular sleep patterns – they are all part of the fabric of our industry. It has been ever thus. But that’s never been a valid argument for not seeking improvements to the way things are.

The challenge of adapting to a new way of working is particularly acute for those comms professionals in globally connected firms, like APCO Worldwide, that operate across multiple markets in the region. The unspoken expectation here is that Fridays and Sundays are both working days if you are servicing markets where both are still seen as working days.

The challenge, then, is a familiar one: adapt or lose out.

This is why some prefer the term work-life rhythms to the pursuit of the work-life balance Holy Grail. Work-life balance has connotations of hard stops, of strict no-nos, of boundaries that cannot be crossed, regardless of the emerging work demand or situation.

But, if we are honest, there has never been any such thing as a hard stop in communications – unless it’s a back-to-back Zoom call. The world does not have a hard stop at 6pm, and this notion was simply emphasised by the pandemic.

But everyone has a different rhythm. Rhythms align with the momentum and realign to shifts. Rhythms allow the individual to figure out where and how they fit into the ever-evolving business landscape.

It may be the case that the long-held notion of balance is the root of the problem. Instead of looking at work and life as separate, competing entities, we need to find ways to integrate them into a rhythm that works for the individual.

So, as the Gulf transitions to a new way-of-working, so must our work-life rhythms. And as we do so, figuring out how to balance our physical and mental health along the way cannot be treated as an afterthought. Rather, it should be priority for companies, organisations and individuals as they lean into the changing socioeconomic context.

Thomas Billinghurst, Head of Content, APCO Worldwide