TECHNIQUE OF THE FIVE-DAY WEEK 27

number from one department are absent simultaneously,
the department may be unable to function at all.
Furthermore, working morale is usually and naturally at
lower ebb on Saturdays than on other days. A week of
work is behind and only a few hours remain before the
week-end freedom begins. Work is therefore apt to be performed
 in a more perfunctory and preoccupied manner, as
the worker is preoccupied with plans for the week-end. The
tendency for groups of employees to indulge in conversation
is greater than usual; general plant discipline is relaxed;
production suffers and, simultaneously, unit costs increase.
It is no wonder, therefore, that any new plan which
gives promise of accomplishing a greater weekly operating
efficiency should receive serious consideration. Some employers
 who use the five-day work week schedule were, even
prior to its introduction, convinced that the change could
be made without serious loss of production; and information
furnished to the Conference Board indicates that their
expectations were generally realized. Others anticipated
some loss of output and experienced it, but are nevertheless
satisfied with the new arrangement. They believe that the
manifold advantage in not attempting to operate the plant
a half day on Saturday compensates for whatever decrease
in productive output results. They see also the added
advantage of more satisfactory performance of maintenance
and repair work in and around the plant during the full sixth
day of the week, without interference with or by the regular
production work. This consideration naturally carries more
weight in some industries than in others. In some, outside
of an occasional breakdown and maintenance work of a
routine character, little difficulty is encountered in keeping
the equipment in good running order; in others, definite
time must be set aside each week for a thorough cleaning and
overhauling of the machinery.
An entire free week-day, with the plant shut down,
offers an ideal opportunity for this thorough overhauling.
Delays incident to giving preference to production work are
eliminated, and the maintenance crew can proceed with the
efficient performance of its work as the sole consideration.
Aside from all these reasons, a potent factor in the adop-