16 Feb 2023
Workers are arranging more trips in the middle of the week to keep their calendars free on Mondays and Fridays.
Between 2021 and 2022, the share of trips made during the traditional work week increased on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Meanwhile, the portion of journeys made on Mondays and Fridays declined.
The flexible work debate hasn’t slowed down since the pandemic. And this data reveals the resistance from employees to return to the traditional five-day work week.
Could the four-day work week become a reality?
A note on the data: the total number of journeys made with Bolt Business and the Bolt Work Profile were split by day to give an average number of rides taken on each day of the week.
There’s a growing trend amongst workers to arrange business travel during the middle of the week.
While Friday was the most popular day to travel for work in 2021, only Monday saw a sharper decrease in the share of trips taken in 2022.
In 2021, Friday was the most popular day to travel for work. But as working habits changed, travelling on Fridays decreased, with workers preferring to get their in-person meetings wrapped up on Thursdays in 2022.
| Share of weekly travel (2021) | Share of weekly travel (2022) | Difference from 2021 to 2022 | |
| Monday | 18.17% | 17.55% | -0.62% |
| Tuesday | 19.68% | 20.02% | +0.32% |
| Wednesday | 20.49% | 20.94% | +0.45% |
| Thursday | 20.71% | 21.02% | +0.31% |
| Friday | 20.93% | 20.45% | -0.48% |
Our data didn’t do anything to help build the reputation of Mondays — it was the least popular day to travel in 2021 and 2022.
Arranging face-to-face meetings during the middle of the week allows workers to keep their calendars free either side of the weekend. This lets them plan for the week ahead or respond to emails following a busy week.
Employees are now looking for companies who trust them to complete work at a time that best suits them. As an employer, it’s important to support flexible working as part of your plans to boost employee retention rates.
And while the number of companies to adopt a four-day work week is still small, productivity isn’t spread evenly across a five-day week.
“During the pandemic, businesses were forced to radically change their approach and adopt working from home, flexible hours, and hybrid models. A large part of the workforce has now adopted these changes, which means your company must continue to support these working habits if you want to succeed.”
Nick Powell, Vice President, Bolt Business
Trialling the four-day work week isn’t on the agenda for every company, but there’s no doubt that working habits are changing. And as a company, you need to adapt by making sure your team has the flexibility they need.
This data reveals that working habits change over time. Allowing your team to arrange their own ground travel gives them more control over their schedules.
By signing up with Bolt Business, the employees you add to your account will see your company as a payment method in their Bolt app. They can then book rides as and when needed — as long as the trip matches the set travel conditions.
