Education

There is a solution to give staff more time to upskill: a four-day week

A shorter working week could help Ireland lead the way in EU’s goal to enhance digital skills and increase competitiveness

The benefits to the four-day week have been well documented: increases in productivity, better work-life balance, better for gender equality and the environment. Photograph: iStock

Sinéad Burke
Tue Nov 15 2022 - 00:00

People ambitious about their careers no longer focus solely on their work-life balance. Their focus has changed to a work-life-education balance. Adding qualifications and skills is essential in most lines of work and all professions. Set against that, the pandemic brought us working from home and the emerging trend of the four-day week, making balancing those three elements extraordinarily challenging.

At University of Limerick, we hear from working professionals who want to upskill particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, information and communications technology and science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), but the hurdle is not money, it’s time. People are already incredibly busy in their working lives and they are understandably not keen to sacrifice their evenings or weekends to furthering their professional development.

But, if you’re ambitious about work-life-education balance, then you need to figure out how to fit it in. The onus is on universities to provide programmes that are flexible to meet the demands of busy working professionals and are responsive to the changing world of work.

Business leaders, educators and governments all need to be proactive in upskilling and retraining people so everyone can benefit

Universities need to provide high-quality advanced programmes that allow people to develop from multiple fields to reflect that careers do not exist on single-subject islands. One of the possible solutions that universities are beginning to offer are micro credentials. These are short pieces of accredited learning that support skills development but can stack to a future award. Our programmes that are co-designed and co-delivered with industry ensure that people are gaining the most in terms of relevant knowledge and skills.

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Universities must be cognisant that an individual’s career destination is not fixed and will now more than ever take a more interdisciplinary and often meandering route. Innovative solutions such as supporting a four-day week could be part of the route to Ireland leading the way in the European Union’s goal to enhance digital skills and increase competitiveness. The benefits to the four-day week have been well documented – increases in productivity, better work-life balance, better for gender equality and the environment. The four-day week lends itself to another benefit.

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It gives staff the headspace and bandwidth to fully engage in upskilling opportunities that benefit their careers, and apply their new knowledge immediately to their existing role, reducing the time for an organisation to realise benefits of staff upskilling. For employers, a four-day week could bring about greater productivity, as well as attracting the best talent and having content employees. The implementation of a four-day week in ICE Group has allowed a number of employees to complete further studies.

This shared commitment to continuing professional development is a key element of their talent management and retention strategy. IDA Ireland has noted that one of the top five reasons that companies invest in Ireland is because of the high level of skills development and training that Irish workers are committed to. The problem is that while there is no shortage of training opportunities, unless the right kinds of training options are made available and delivered in new and innovative ways, staff will struggle to remain competitive. With the increased need of technical skills, there is an uptick in the demand of transferable skills such as creativity, problem solving, leadership, sustainability and an understanding of how digital technology can be used.

There are already significant talent pipeline challenges facing every member state, including Ireland. Many people realise that engaging in upskilling and reskilling increases their salaries and makes it easier to make a career change or land the promotion. Employee turnover in Ireland more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, according to a HR Barometer Report released earlier this year. The report also showed that the cost of recruitment has increased to €7,491 per employee, up from €4,215 in 2021. This increases to an average of €14,690 per employee for large businesses.

If we are bold in how we deliver training and professional development, we will continue to keep Irish workers competitive, while supporting job creation in the future

Organisations focused on protecting and growing their workforce while closing skills gaps need to invest in their people. The right investment demonstrates leadership, builds an inclusive culture, and attracts and retains talent – all of which drive sustainable performance improvement. The investment, however, needs to be more than financial; companies who give employees the time and space to develop, will reap the rewards. This is as pertinent to small companies as it is to large companies and as Ireland is reaching full employment, staff will be attracted to employers investing in upskilling employees to meet their business needs.

Chambers Ireland encourages companies to invest in upskilling employees to meet their business needs. We have the highest level of Stem graduates per capita in the EU among 20- to 29-year-olds, which is a key driver of foreign direct investment. If Ireland wants to maintain and grow jobs and inward investment in the era of digital transformation, we need to support the upskilling of staff and reskilling.

Collaboration between educators and industry to provide the skills needed in the future is key to this. Business leaders, educators and governments all need to be proactive in upskilling and retraining people so everyone can benefit. Universities offering traditional programmes that lack flexibility and companies giving only financial support and intermittent study leave, will not give the Irish economy its best chance to recruit and retain the best talent. If we are bold in how we deliver training and professional development, we will continue to keep Irish workers competitive, while supporting job creation in the future.

Dr Sinéad Burke is manager for UL@Work, a programme addressing upskilling and reskilling for Irish enterprise

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