Lyric Dixon grew up in a household where her father worked long hours, often in two jobs. Her grandmother stopped working only recently, retiring aged 72. In her first postgraduate role, Dixon, now 25, worked a 45-hour week as a customer manager for Wellington-based online food retailer Delivereasy. But for the past two years, she has been part of a cohort that is revolutionising workplaces: the four-day-week workers.
Dixon is a human resources adviser at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, the government’s audiovisual archive. Since early 2022, Ngā Taonga has allowed its 80-plus staff to work a four-day (32 hour) week on full pay, as part of its “Future of Work’’ strategy, which puts a big focus on staff wellbeing. It is flexible enough for staff to work from home for two of those days, a deal which Dixon’s friends wish they had.
Dixon (Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa) reflects the thinking of her generation when she talks enthusiastically about how she wants to feel valued as an employee and that a career should be only one part of someone’s life, not all-consuming. Working shorter hours and being respected for the job they do rate highly for a generation of recent graduates and younger employees who regard paid employment as just one facet of their lives.
Local and international studies have found that Dixon’s generation – Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012 – are lost and dissatisfied at work. They’re the country’s future workforce and everyone from recruiters to academics and office revolutionaries, such as four-day-week champion Andrew Barnes, say we need to redesign our workplaces to meet their needs.
“My generation perceive burnout as
