97% of Estate Agents Want 5 Day Work Weeks

According to my recent poll, out of 160 voters, an overwhelming 97% said that they would like a lieu day off for working on a Saturday, creating a 5-day maximum working week. A mere 5 people voted in favor of no lieu day. The vast majority of voters were estate agents or former estate agents.

This forms an interesting source of debate because still today, many, and I would say the majority of negotiator/consultant roles, require employees to work 1 in 2 Saturdays with no day off in lieu and often with the bare minimum of holidays (20 days + bank holidays, though there are a few that don't even grant you bank holidays!).

In particular, trainee-level roles commonly require 1 in 2 weekends with no weekday off. As you advance in your career, it is more likely that you'll progress to a role where fewer weekends are involved, though that's not a certainty by any means.

The purpose of this article isn't to take sides but to discuss. The results of this poll indicate a disparity between what many estate agents want and what they are getting. This could be a big problem when it comes to job satisfaction and staff retention.

Firstly, I wanted to make a case for working 1 in 2 Saturdays without a weekday off. In particular, if you are a trainee, instilling a great work ethic can only benefit you in the future. This can be helped by working more days. There is a lot to be said for earning your stripes in an industry, putting in the hard yards.

Resilience is key in any sales role, negotiation, dealing with tricky customers, picking up the phone and being proactive, working long hours - it isn't easy. If you can survive this and get the maximum exposure to learn your trade by working the most days, then surely it can only strengthen your character?

Also, many highly successful businesses have operated within this model for many years. So clearly, there is value in it. Covering more days should give you greater opportunities to do business, and Saturdays, in my time at a corporate agent working like this, were labeled "deal day". In theory, I understand the point that someone who isn't motivated isn't going to spend their weekend finding a new property. So it is understandable Saturdays would be required. Although, it would be interesting to compare figures from companies operating with and without Saturday requirements.

The debate heats up though when discussing whether that should then allow you to have a weekday off.

Immediate arguments that spring to mind support working only 5 days a week: less chance of burnout, more time to spend with family and friends, take up hobbies and create side hustles. How does that benefit a business? Workers who are more refreshed, have greater energy to work fervently in the time they are there, higher job satisfaction, less staff turnover, and less time spent finding replacements.

There are a number of companies even trialing 4-day work weeks on full pay. In this article, Four-day week trial ends and some firms make it permanent - BBC News, 86% of companies out of 70 in the trial voted they would likely keep it, due to better work-life balance and maintained productivity.

So, is estate agency in danger of being left behind if it doesn't move with the times?

It remains candidate tight out there; salespeople can choose between long hours and weekend work in agency or potentially a better balance with weekends off and time working from home, or even 4 days a week elsewhere. This is what the industry is up against when it comes to attracting new talent, and sadly, a lot of younger people looking to start their careers or take the next step in their career are put off by intimidating work schedules.

In this day and age we strive for efficiency, AI is a prominent feature for a lot of businesses, we value our time and want to save it in anyway possible so we can spend more time on the most important things within and outside work. Is the working model of 1 in 2 Saturdays and no lieu day outdated and unnecessary for productivity?

Or do the pro's of the most tried and tested way remain the best way of conducting the working schedule?

I'd love to hear any additional comments to further the debate.