One of the biggest studios to announce a shift in how they operate, Guardians of The Galaxy developer Eidos Montreal, as well as Eidos Sherbrooke will be switching to a four-day workweek in order to create a more “sustainable” environment for their employees. They are not the first studio to reevaluate in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic as indie developer Young Horses recently adopted a four-day week as well, while Life is Strange Creator Dontnod moved to make remote employment more feasible.
The studio will be ditching what amounted to 40 hour work weeks across 5 day weeks. They have made clear they have no intention of trying to cram that into their new model, instead stating they plan to “review our ways of doing things and our quality time invested, with the aim of working better.”
A blog post from Eidos stated:
Above all, we want to increase the productivity and well-being of our employees. Concretely, we want to reduce the time at work, but increase the quality of this time invested, whether it’s on a team-basis or for the studio as a whole. A promising right balance for everything.
We want a real collaborative aspect so that the teams contribute to the transition, each one working to define the parameters and criteria for success for the organization of work and deadlines. We hope that this will eliminate unnecessary time and build on efficiency, for example by reducing internal meetings from one hour to 30 minutes.
The studio added:
We are convinced that this renewed management of working time will help cultivate the creativity and motivation of the teams, and become a real driver of innovation and performance. This initiative is another step towards the embodiment of the studio’s values, building a healthy, creative, and sustainable work environment for our employees.
The company noted that a similar workweek was already being implemented due to the Pandemic, alongside the implementation of more flexible remote working tools. Pilot programs similar to one hosted by The Icelandic Civil Service helped convince them that a condensed workweek actually helps boost productivity.
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