TGIThursday?

Here is a government program that I can get behind. Last year, the Republican governor of Utah implemented the "Working 4 Utah Initiative" that put the majority of the state government employees on a four day, ten hour per day, work week.  The program has been in place for a year now and has had a number of benefits for the state.

1. Budget Benefit-By closing office buildings on Friday's the state has benefited in reducing energy expenses by $1.8 million in the first nine months.  They expect to improve those savings even more with more efficient energy consumption.
2. Traffic Congestion-The longer work day has spread out the "rush hour" reducing the number of cars on the roads at any particular time, making commute times shorter.
3. Reduced Emissions-With fewer cars on the roads and less energy used in buildings, the state has reduced their "carbon footprint" by some 12000 metric tons.  They also project to reduce gasoline consumption by 744,000 gallons annually.
4. Happier Workers-Let's face it, who doesn't like a three day weekend, and the thought of having one every weekend would thrill me to no end.  Plus they end up with extra cash to spend by reducing their commuting expenses by 20% per week.

In an economy that is struggling, businesses and governments are always looking for areas to cut expenses.  Most of the time it ends up being employees.  Here is a plan that could save money and jobs, not to mention all of the other benefits that the state of Utah has enjoyed so far.

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• Four-Day Workweek Saves $1.8 Million in Utah, Makes Workers Happy [Office Culture] (lifehacker.com)
• The Three-Day Weekend Experiment (freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Utah's 4-day Work Week (neatorama.com)