At half past three every Friday afternoon at Zehnder Communications, the words of Homer Simpson ring out over the PA system: "I would kill everyone in the room for a drop of sweet beer." Then the beer gets cracked open (with soft drinks for abstemious types).

For the past 12 years, staff at the New Orleans advertising agency have enjoyed "Free Beer Fridays".

"We wanted to do something regularly that would make this a great place to work," explains Jeff Zehnder, chief executive. "It's a cool-down period, a chance to get to know each other and talk over the week."

At the Montreal offices of design software business Autodesk, there's a similar policy: Friday afternoons are all about beer and crisps. "You can stop work at 4pm," the company says, to sample "different kinds of speciality locally brewed beers, wines and a variety of potato chips. We do sometimes watch clients' films, but mainly it's just a good chance to unwind, relax and catch up with each other. It's very well appreciated."

Others go further. "Summer hours" are a long-established institution in the US. Typically, from May to October, staff are allowed to arrive at work earlier in the mornings and then leave at lunchtime on Fridays. According to HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates, 10-12 per cent of large American employers offer staff this option. In the UK, PepsiCo offers it to staff at its Reading headquarters.

Although allowing an early end to the week may seem altruistic, there are good reasons why this might be the best use of a Friday afternoon. The thing is, even if employers do not give staff a winding down period, they are likely to be doing it anyway. Research by UK-based Employment Law Advisory Services suggests that British businesses are losing £50m a year from employees skipping off on Friday afternoons. The research found that bogus meetings, over-running lunches and doctor's appointments were the top three excuses. And these findings are bolstered by research from the Automobile Association, the motor breakdown service, which suggests that the Friday afternoon rush hour in fact starts at noon.

"It's an endemic global phenomenon," says Peter Mooney, ELAS head of consultancy. "It's amazing how often you can send an e-mail or make a phone call and not get any response until Monday morning. More and more workers are seeing Friday afternoon as an unofficial holiday."

Sebastian Bailey, a director at the Mind Gym learning and development consultancy, says that, in many companies, even if staff are present their minds may be elsewhere. "Staff tend to wind down on Fridays if there aren't pressing deadlines . . . People take their foot off the gas. Cyber-slacking with sites like Facebook is particularly prevalent." Indeed, so well known is this phenomenon that it is enshrined in the language: "A Friday afternoon car" refers to a sub-standard vehicle, presumed to have been built after lunch on a Friday; and Friday is also sometimes known as "Poets" day (piss off early, tomorrow's Saturday).

So, the thinking goes, as a business you may as well get the credit for something that your staff are probably going to do anyway. And besides, those who provide relaxed get-togethers give their staff an opportunity to bond, get to know people they don't work with in their immediate environment and talk over the week's issues. Perhaps companies that let staff wind down on a Friday afternoon will be more productive than those that keep them working up to the final bell.

"By letting people go a little earlier or have beer and pizza on Friday afternoons, you create goodwill, engagement and loyalty," says Mr Bailey, adding that the payback often comes in the form of greater effort at other times.

Mr Zehnder puts it slightly more pithily: "If you work here, you bust your ass all week. By Friday afternoon, you're brain dead."

在Zehnder Communications，每周五下午三点半，扩音器内都会传出荷马•辛普森(Homer Simpson)的声音：“我会为了一滴美味的啤酒而杀死房间里的所有人。”接着，就开始为员工开啤酒（还有那些为节食者准备的软饮料）。

过去12年来，这家位于新奥尔良市的广告公司的员工们一直享受着“周五免费啤酒日”。

“我们希望通过一些定期的活动，让这里成为很棒的工作场所，”该公司首席执行官杰夫•兹恩德(Jeff Zehnder)表示，“这是一段放松时间，使大家有机会相互了解，聊一聊一周的事情。”

设计软件供应商欧特克(Autodesk)的蒙特利尔办公室也有着相似的传统：周五下午属于啤酒和薯片。该公司表示，“大家4点就可以收工”，来品尝“各式各样当地酿造的特色啤酒、葡萄酒，以及种类丰富的薯片。我们有时也会观看客户的幻灯片，但总的来说，这就是一个放松、休息和彼此沟通的机会。员工对此很欣赏。”

有些地方的政策更加宽松。“夏令时”制度在美国已实施很长时间。通常，每年5月至10月，员工可以每天早晨提前上班，这样周五中午就可以下班。人力资源咨询公司翰威特(Hewitt Associates)称，10%-12%的美国大公司为员工提供这种选择。百事公司(PepsiCo)在英国雷丁(Reading)的总部也施行此项政策。

让员工提前结束一周的工作，可能看起来十分无私，但一些有力的证据表明：这可能是利用周五下午的最佳方式。原因在于，就算雇主不给员工提供放松时间，他们自己也会想办法给自己放松。英国就业法律咨询服务处(Employment Law Advisory Services)的研究表明，由于员工周五下午开小差，英国企业每年损失5000万英镑。研究发现，最常见的三个理由依次是：编造的会议、拖延午餐时间以及约了医生。英国汽车救援服务供应商汽车协会(Automobile Association)的研究支持上述观点。他们的调查显示，周五下午的交通高峰实际上从中午就开始了。

就业法律咨询服务处咨询主管彼得•穆尼(Peter Mooney)表示：“这是一种全球性的流行现象。周五下午的电子邮件和电话，到周一早上才能得到回复，这种情况多得令人吃惊。越来越多的员工将周五下午视作非官方假日。”

心灵健身房(Mind Gym)学习发展咨询公司的董事之一，塞巴斯蒂安•贝利(Sebastian Bailey)表示，在许多公司，即便员工人在其位，心思可能也在别处。“如果没有紧迫的期限，员工们周五下午会懈怠下来……他们开始松油门。上Facebook之类的网站放松放松，是一种尤其突出的现象。”事实上，这种现象已如此出名，以至于在语言文字都得到了体现。例如，人们用“周五下午的汽车”来指那些质量不达标的车辆，认为它们是在周五午饭后生产的；有时周五还被称为“诗人日”，因为在英语中，“早点开溜，明天周六”(piss off early, tomorrow's Saturday)这一短语的首字母组合与“诗人”(Poets)的拼写一致。

这样一来，按照生意人的逻辑，既然员工无论如何都会这样做，如果雇主能从中获得功劳，那何乐而不为呢。除此之外，雇主在组织放松聚会的同时，也为员工们提供了一个机会，来加强团结，了解一些日常工作没有交集的同事，并探讨一下这周的重大事件。与驱使员工一直工作到终场钟声响起相比，也许那些让员工在周五下午放松的公司能获得更高的生产力。

贝利称：“周五下午让大家早点儿下班，或是来点啤酒和比萨饼，能够使员工更开心、更投入，也更忠诚。”他补充称，这样做的回报，往往是员工在其他时间会更加卖力。

兹恩德则表达得略为简洁：“在这儿工作，你一周都在拼命干活。到了周五下午，你已经脑死亡了。”