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IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people opine that increasing office hour is a reason for many social and personal problems and that is why it should be reduced to 35 hours in a week. What are the advantages and disadvantages of reducing the working week to 35 hours?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer 1:
A balanced professional and personal life is the key to happiness - according to many researchers. This is why a group of people suggest reducing the office hours to 35 hours per week to allow employees to have more free time. It is undeniable that overwork causes stress and hamper productivity in the long run, but a workday of 7 hours may also reduce productivity and output.

To outline the advantages, 35 working hours per week will allow employees to allocate more time for themselves and spend quality time with family and friends. Besides, they will be inspired to take part in different social and sports activities, and that will surely improve their health conditions. Moreover, the reduced working hours means more time for resting and taking vacations, and proper rest and vacations refresh our minds. Undeniably, this has a relationship with the productivity of employees in their offices. Finally, many stress-related issues are caused by overwork, and if employees work 7 hours a day, they are less likely to suffer from fatigue and stress.

On the other hand, decreased working hours would reduce the output of employees, especially in industries and that would hike the price of different commodities. Life would become even more costly due to the increasing price. Companies, on the other hand, will have to hire more employees to maintain their productivity and thus their operational costs would increase.

To conclude, a balanced working hour is already in place, which is 8 hours per day. Employees should work effectively during office hours and leave the office in due time. Companies should not put extra pressure and engage staff for more than 8 hours a day while the government should make sure that private companies are not violating the laws regarding the weekly working hours.

Sample Answer 2:
Different social and personal problems due to overwork are arguably the most concerning dilemmas in the modern world, both for developing and industrialised countries. It is suggested by many to have a 35-hours workweek schedule, as they believe it would help diminish many overwork-related issues. This essay will give an in-depth analysis of both advantages and disadvantages of the proposed working hours.

It seems reasonable that a shorter working week can boost the demand for new employment while also provide a healthier working condition. As workers are expected to work five hours less per week, the companies have to consider additional recruitment to keep up with the former productivity, thus help in lowering the unemployment quota. Moreover, studies have highlighted the importance of granting employees a greater amount of time for resting. Not only it will lead to better performance, but also improve employee satisfaction, from which the organisations can benefit a lot.

On the other hand, there are bound to be pitfalls once the suggestion gets passed. Economically speaking, cutting working hours can severely hurt companies’ competitiveness in the market, since they are no longer as effective. The situation may get even worse if all firms suffer from the same problem. Prices are then likely to be raised so that the expenses can be covered. Ironically, the employees, who are also customers, turn out again to be the victims of the solution suggested.

To conclude, limiting the working week to 35 hours might sound promising but there are several potential issues, which must be thoroughly addressed before the proposal could be implemented in the real world.

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• IELTS Essay
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