WATERVILLE — Starting Jan. 3, Waterville will join the growing list of cities and towns switching to a four-day work week.

City Manager Bryan Kaenrath said the city is following the lead of other Maine municipalities.

“It’s becoming ever more challenging to recruit and retain good municipal employees, so the main reason is to keep us market competitive with what’s going on around the state and other areas around the country,” he said.

An estimated 20 cities and towns have made the move since the COVID-19 pandemic — a list that includes Lewiston, South Portland, Scarborough, Biddeford, Sanford, Windham, Gorham, Falmouth, Bath and Orono, according to a memo from Lewiston Human Resources Director Heather Theriault.

Just last week, Lewiston City Council voted to permanently move to a four-day week after a trial period.

Most have opted to close on Fridays but have extended hours Monday through Thursday.

“The City of Lewiston is in competition with all other municipalities in the state for employees,” Theriault wrote to council. “The city has experienced the loss of long-time employees who have gone to another municipality either for pay or benefits.”

She said it’s expensive for the city to replace employees, particularly when it comes to paying out unused vacation time and paying other employees’ overtime to fill in while they are short staffed.

She also enumerated other expenses, such as a new hire physical ($125), new hire drug test ($97) and background checks, which range in cost from $52 to nearly $150.

One other reason?

Cities and towns are now offering more services online, with Lewiston allowing everything from birth and death certificates to property tax records to paying parking tickets.

Other services are in the testing phase, such as permits for garage sales, swimming pools and fences, according to Theriault’s memo.

She noted that while employees love the change, she did hear from two citizens with complaints, one of whom said the city should be open on Saturdays.

Lewiston City Hall is open to the public 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursday and from 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Back in Waterville, Kaenrath said he hopes residents will get used to the new schedule — 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday — which he believes will offer people the chance to come before and after work.

“Our thought is with the expanded hours during those days people that may work a normal 9 to 5 schedule will now have an opportunity to come to city hall both before and after normal business hours,” he said.

Kaenrath said the pandemic prompted city officials to push more services online, something that continues to benefit the public. And he hopes the four-day week will help the city attract the most talented employees.

“I think it’s important to recruit and retain the very best cream of the crop employees,” he said. “Those employees provide the best municipal service to the citizens of Waterville. We want the best people working here and we think this is going to be a tool to help us get there.”