for staff

“Because we are a not-for-profit organization at Ilitaqsiniq, we can’t compete in some ways with other organizations, but one way that we can is by being creative and innovative and that’s where the four-day work week comes in.” Hiring is difficult worldwide, in all industries and contexts, said Kusugak.

“Our goal as always is to recruit Inuit who are passionate about serving Nunavummiut,” she said. “If we can use this pilot to support that, then we’re all for it.”

More than anything, though, the goal is for staff to have extended weekends over the summer to engage in Inuit cultural practices, enjoy the sun and connect with family.

“We want to give our staff the opportunity to engage in that because they’ll be using all that learning and information in their programs anyway,” said Kusugak.

The pilot runs May 8 to September 1. Through it, staff will be tracking their work and how they’re feeling about the initiative. Afterward, Ilitsqsiniq will digest the information, analyze it and produce some reports of the findings.

“The goal would be to do it more than once,” said Kusugak, if the data and feedback support it. “I think in order to really research something, you have to do it more than once to prove anything.”

The ultimate goal, she said, is to make the four-day workweek from May to September part of the organization’s workplace policy.

As Ilitaqsiniq prides itself on being forward-thinking, the non-profit will also be sharing its results with other employers in the territory – despite being competitors – to potentially encourage them to implement a similar policy as well.

“Our whole goal as an organization is to empower Nunavummiut,” said Kusugak.