WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Advanced RV, a custom motor home builder in Willoughby, was among dozens of companies worldwide to test a four-day workweek in 2022. What was supposed to be a six-month trial is still going strong today.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank recently visited Advanced RV to see how the schedule shift has impacted employees and the business's bottom line.
Founder and owner Mike Neundorfer said he knew he was taking a risk making the change, but today, the company is almost back to 100%.
"We've been able through our backlog, which when we started, this was a little over two years, we've been able to kind of bridge that slow down," said Neundorfer. "Our performance has been good, kind of flat, but we think that we're gonna take off again soon."
Jenise LeMay, an upholstery seamstress at Advanced RV, said she wasn't optimistic at first about a 4-day work week.
"I think we were all a little afraid of that you know, oh, it's not gonna work out," said LeMay. "But we all tried really hard because we all had a taste of it and it was like, we don't wanna go back if we don't have to."
Employees at Advanced RV work four days and get paid for five days. Everyone gets a three-day weekend.
"I find myself looking forward to going back to work after the third day off honestly," said Robert Wick.
Wick helps lead the engineering and design departments at Advanced RV.
Neundorfer said he currently has no plans to go back to a 5-day work week.
