PERCEIVED IMPACT OF A FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK ON JOB SATISFACTION, WORK-LIFE BALANCE, AND RETENTION INTENTIONS IN PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21224238

Abstract

This quantitative article examines the perceived impact of a four-day work week on job satisfaction, work-life balance, and retention intention among full-time faculty and administrative staff working in private higher education institutions in Karachi, Pakistan. The study responds to a local evidence gap created by the partial use of compressed or reduced on-campus schedules during austerity pressures, where institutional leaders had practical exposure to shortened schedules but limited empirical evidence on employee outcomes. A cross-sectional survey design was used with 100 valid responses. The model positioned perceived four-day work week as the independent variable, work intensification and job satisfaction as mediating variables, work-life balance as an intervening employee outcome, perceived organizational support as a moderating condition, and retention intention as the dependent variable. The analysis used reliability testing, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and a supplementary independent-samples t-test in SPSS. The results showed acceptable reliability for perceived four-day work week, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, and retention intention, while work intensification and work-life balance required cautious interpretation. Only one of the nine hypothesized relationships was supported: work intensification had a significant negative association with work-life balance. The perceived four-day work week was not significantly associated with work intensification, job satisfaction, or work-life balance. Perceived organizational support was the only significant predictor of retention intention in regression, indicating that support structures may matter more than schedule form alone. The article concludes that private HEIs should avoid treating the four-day work week as a stand-alone retention tool and should instead align flexible scheduling with workload control, managerial responsiveness, communication, and institutional support.

Keywords:  Four-day work week; job satisfaction; work-life balance; retention intention; work intensification; perceived organizational support; private higher education institutions; Karachi.