A while ago I noted that Shake Shack was experimenting with 4-day weeks in its Las Vegas restaurants. Now, in an mid-January 2020 investor conference call,

Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti said the chain has rolled out a four-day workweek for managers at a third of its locations.

“It’s never been harder” to attract, retain, and find high-quality employees, Garutti said. According to Garutti, the four-day workweek has been an “incredible competitive advantage.”

However, “Garutti said that the company was not yet sure if it would roll out the four-day workweek at all locations.”

Shake Shack is an early example of a casual restaurant that’s using 4-day weeks to attract and retain staff. Fine dining restaurants have been doing it for a few years, but of course when you have a couple Michelin stars, sell out an entire season in minutes, and can charge customers hundreds of dollars upfront when they make your reservation, the economics are a little different for you than they are for a burger joint.

And as Food and Wine News noted in November 2019,

Shake Shack is known for treating its workers well, but it’s important to note that this change to a shortened week isn’t completely out of the kindness of the company’s heart. The burger chain is continuing to grow its number of locations at a relatively rapid clip, and all these new positions need to be filled—preferably with the best possible candidates. Being able to offer three days off hopefully gets more people interested. “There’s never been a greater need to invest in recruitment, retention and leadership development,” Garutti told NRN. “The recruiting possibilities are huge.”