Swiggy, DDB Mudra Group, MullenLowe Lintas Group, WATConsult among companies moving to the 4 day work week

As COVID continues to ravage the nation, the employers look for an extra holiday a week in a bid to soothe frayed nerves, and keep mental stress and burnout at bay.

The four-day work week is the future of work and we've started to see glimpses of it. As the COVID pandemic rages on, an individual's mental health and productivity has taken a hit. Also, there's been a renewed discussion of what the work culture is, especially in agencies.

A slew of agencies and brands have announced a four-day work week for their employees.

Please note that the list below is not final and will be updated as and when we're made aware of such announcements.

DDB Mudra Group

"Last year felt like a really long day. Thrust face first into the pandemic, we had to figure out ways to make sense of it all. Each one of us found new ways to cope, adapt and rise above a new set of challenges. It got us thinking, right now, business as usual, seems well, a little unusual."

"Challenging times call for innovative solutions. Which is why, effective from next week, we're moving to a four-day work week for May. Additional leaves will be provided for people affected by COVID, or those recovering from vaccine-related side effects."

MullenLowe Lintas Group

While an earlier piece of news revealed it was the group's PR firm Lintas Live which had announced a four-day work week for its employees, we, a bit later, came to understand it's for the entire group.

WATConsult

The Dentsu agency didn't announce it online, but Vindhya Malik, its regional head of video strategy and production, said in a LinkedIn post, "Kudos to WATConsult and Heeru Dingra for implementing a four-day week, COVID support and relief measures and mental health care for WATizens without any noise."

Pinstorm

Took a pretty big call with the leadership team yesterday @Pinstorm . The really cool thing was that every single client of the firm supported this, right away.#mentalhealthmatters #covid #mentalhealth #covid19 #covid19impact pic.twitter.com/8JTc7padED

— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) April 29, 2021

The Mumbai-based digital advertising firm revealed it "was doing company-wide offs (with one exception) on Wednesdays" for the month of May. Its co-founder Mahesh Murthy shared an email about this on his social media channels.

Neil Patel Digital India

The Bengaluru-based digital marketing agency said on LinkedIn, "It's time to rethink what we've come to call #AgencyLife."

"Lack of work-life balance, pulling all-nighters every week and being 'always on' should not be flaunted as a badge of pride. End the hustle culture and get real! It's time to re-evaluate, it's time to be empathetic, it's time to #DetoxWork."

"We're rolling out a four-day work week for #May and #June to help #Indian employees cope with the stress of the pandemic, and prioritise their mental health and families."

Kaizzen

Vineet Handa, founder and CEO of the PR and digital media agency, posted on LinkedIn, "No one is safe until we all are safe. Tough times teach us a lot… and these times have taught all of us to take care of each other. Therefore, four days of work three days of care for all at Kaizzen."

It’s always people first for #Kaizzen...

Edelman India

Rakesh Thukral, MD of the PR agency's India arm, said on LinkedIn, "To ensure the wellbeing of our colleagues, and to enable them to support their loved ones who need attention and care, we will be moving to a four-day work week through May 2021. Every Friday in May has been announced as a self-care day."

"This will allow them some downtime from work to support their families, but also plan for early vaccination. I am sure our client partners will support us in this effort."

Mobile Premier League (MPL)

Shubh Malhotra, its co-founder, tweeted about the move. "We have gone back to four working days a week like last year during the COVID crisis. It is always important to give people more headspace in these tough times!"

Expedia

The online travel aggregator (OTA) giant has announced a "four-day work week for its India employees, starting from April 30 to May 14," said Anoosha Shetty, a software developer working for the group on LinkedIn.

Swiggy

An Economic Times report said that the online food delivery company had "announced a four-day work week for employees for the month of May."

The paper quoted Girish Menon, head of HR at Swiggy, as saying in an internal email, “As a mark of respect for the efforts and the month that May can be with the COVID cases escalating, we want to offer a four-day work week to all of you.”