A 32-hour workweek with 40-hour pay? It's happening at some companies

Video game makers in Kentucky are cranking four days a week on a new title based on the classic slasher movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The twist? Workers making the horror game are getting paid the same salaries they used to get for working five days a week.

As disruptions to standard workplace practices caused by the pandemic continue to ripple through the economy, some companies are adopting 32-hour workweeks at formerly 40-hour pay that effectively make every Friday a paid holiday.

The shortened week has been a winner for Gun Interactive, Chief Executive Wes Keltner said, as employees stay focused to complete their tasks on time and return to the office on Monday with a full head of creative steam because they've had sufficient downtime.

"You have a finite well of creativity in your body. When it's tapped, it's tapped," he said. "After that you do subpar work."

A four-day workweek at five-day pay sounds exotic, because so far it is. Few companies have formally adopted the practice, but it's on the menu for some as employers cast about for ways to set up hybrid work schedules that will appeal