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A Guide to Implementing the 4-Day Workweek

• Ashley Whillans
• Charlotte Lockhart

As organizations continue to explore a variety of flexible work options, one promising avenue is the four-day workweek: The standard 40 hours per week is reduced to 32 hours, with the same pay and the same productivity expectations. Research suggests reducing hours can benefit both employees and employers, but it can be difficult to go from the idea to a successful implementation. In this piece, the authors — a researcher who studies time, money, and happiness and the CEO of a global nonprofit focused on the future of work — outline a six-step guide to help leaders plan, pilot, and roll out a four-day workweek. While no change comes easily, the authors argue that companies willing to embrace models like the four-day workweek will find the experimentation well worth the effort.

Working less can reduce employees’ stress — without sacrificing productivity.

In June of this year, Kickstarter became the latest in a string of organizations to announce they are experimenting with a four-day workweek. Its employees will be working 32 rather than 40 hours per week, while being expected to achieve the same productivity levels and earning the same pay. Though some recent studies on the efficacy of the four-day week have been overblown in the media , research suggests that reducing work hours can decrease employee stress and improve well-being without impacting productivity — but only when implemented effectively.

Why high-salary jobs with long, inflexible hours exacerbate the gender pay gap — and what to do about it.

• Ashley Whillans is an assistant professor in the negotiations, organizations, and markets unit at the Harvard Business School School and teaches the “Negotiations” and “Motivation and Incentives” courses to MBA students and executives. Her research focuses on the role of noncash rewards on engagement and the links between time, money, and happiness. She is the author of Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time & Live a Happier Life (Harvard Business Review, 2020).
• CL Charlotte Lockhart is a business advocate, investor, and philanthropist with more than 25 years of experience in multiple industries both locally and overseas. As CEO for the 4 Day Week Global campaign, she promotes the benefits of a productivity-focused and reduced-hour workplace. She is on the board of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and the advisory boards of the U.S. campaign and the Ireland campaign for the four-day week.

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March 7, 2023

A Four-Day Workweek Reduces Stress without Hurting Productivity

The results of a test involving dozens of employers and thousands of employees suggests that working only four days instead of five is good for workers’ well-being—without hurting companies

By Jan Dönges & Sophie Bushwick

Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty Images

Working four days instead of five—with the same pay—leads to improved well-being among employees without damaging the company’s productivity. That’s the recently reported result of a four-day workweek test that ran for six months, from June to December 2022, and involved a total of 61 U.K. companies with a combined workforce of about 2,900 employees.

During the COVID pandemic, many workers experienced increased stress and even burnout, a state of exhaustion that can make it difficult to meet work goals. “It’s a very huge issue,” says independent organizational psychologist and consultant Michael Leiter, who was not involved in the new report. “You see it particularly in health care, where I do a lot of my work. It’s making it much more difficult to hold on to talented people.” He explains that stress in the workplace makes it difficult for companies in health care and many other fields to recruit new hires and keep existing employees. But a greater awareness of burnout and related issues can have a positive effect, Leiter adds. “People are demanding more changes in how the work is organized,” he says.

That demand is what led the independent research organization Autonomy , in conjunction with the advocacy groups 4 Day Week Global and  4 Day Week Campaign and researchers at the University of Cambridge, Boston College and other institutions, to publish a report on what happens when companies reduce the number of days in a workweek. According to surveys of participants, 71 percent of respondents reported lower levels of burnout, and 39 percent reported being less stressed than when they began the test. Companies experienced 65 percent fewer sick and personal days. And the number of resignations dropped by more than half, compared with an earlier six-month period. Despite employees logging fewer work hours, companies’ revenues barely changed during the test period. In fact, they actually increased slightly, by 1.4 percent on average.

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Even before the COVID pandemic, companies tried to enhance employee well-being with interventions such as wellness programs. The new report suggests that a four-day workweek could be a tool for this purpose. “We think this is a far more effective and powerful way to have an impact on employees,” says report co-author Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College. Unlike most wellness benefits or flexible-hour schedules, which are typically options for individuals, the four-day week would be an organization-wide policy. As a result, Schor says, making that change would not harm workers’ career prospects or income.

When it comes to helping workers in distress, “so much of the effort goes into making them feel better rather than actually changing the nature of work,” Leiter says. “The kinds of results that [the researchers are] reporting are more substantial than many of those [wellness] programs. Because again, a lot of what these programs are doing are helping people tolerate the situation that they’re in rather than changing [that situation]. It’s a much more profound thing to do—to change the nature of work—than it is to help people put up with what they’ve got.”

This is not the only test of a shorter workweek. In 2008, for example, Utah  started a program to try to save building energy costs by closing state employees’ offices on Fridays, although that program kept employees working for 40-hour weeks and merely redistributed the hours over four days instead of five. Other researchers have studied workweeks or days with fewer hours, although those assessments have often included workers at only one organization. “Prior to 2022, which is when 4 Day Week Global began running trials of companies doing four-day weeks ..., to our knowledge, there were no multicompany studies of the four-day week,” Schor says. The organization has conducted multiple studies on the shortened week’s impact in other countries. The recent one in the U.K. was its largest effort thus far, however.

In addition to surveys, the researchers performed in-depth interviews with participants in the new report. From those interviews, it emerged that employees used the additional day off mostly for organization and everyday tasks. This, in turn, allowed them to reserve the weekend primarily for recreation, so they could spend time with their families and hobbies.

The test included companies from a variety of industries, including online retailers, financial services firms, animation studios and a fish-and-chips store. Each company chose how to implement its four-day week—making Friday a day off for everyone or allowing employees to choose any day off, for example. Participants also reduced hours by eliminating time-wasting tasks such as overlong meetings, the surveys found. Ninety-two percent of the companies that took part in the pilot program said they would continue to test the four-day week, and 18 companies decided to keep their reduced working hours permanently.

The test period of six months was relatively short, so it remains unclear whether the favorable impact on well-being will persist in the long term. Employees might become accustomed to the reduced working hours over time, and the lighter workweek would begin to have only a limited effect on stress levels. The researchers plan on conducting a follow-up survey with the participating companies that are maintaining a four-day workweek at the one-year mark in order to see if these positive results continue—and Schor expects they will. “One reason we think they will is that we did a midpoint survey on all of these,” she says. Key outcomes such as stress and burnout “improved in the first three months, and that improvement was maintained. So we do know that in months three to six, we didn’t get regression.”

Leiter would have preferred the team to have used a more established measure to assess burnout. The surveys asked questions related to exhaustion and frustration, he explains, rather than using an assessment like the Maslach Burnout Inventory , which is currently considered the gold standard. “There’s a colloquial idea of burnout, which is that it’s being tired, and it’s being really frustrated with work,” he says. In Leiter’s research , that state would be called “overextended,” he notes. “Burnout has that quality but is also being very cynical and discouraged and depersonalizing things and really losing your sense of accomplishment, which is a much more dark place to be.” Still, he says that the four-day workweek is likely to reduce this more rigorous definition of burnout as well, “because it gives people more control over their life and their relationship with work.”

Companies may be more willing to try out a four-day workweek after seeing new work-from-home policies succeed. “When companies switched to work from home because of the pandemic, this was something they had the technology to do all along and just were really reluctant to let people do it,” Schor says. “And so that really changed employers’ point of view. I think it opened their minds.” Leiter agrees. “I think people were very much into a rut about how work has to be organized,” he says. “What’s come out of the pandemic for a lot of people was reflection, saying, ‘It really doesn’t have to be that way. We can change things drastically—because we just did.’”

A version of this article originally appeared in Spektrum der Wissenschaft and was reproduced with permission.

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What Does the Four-Day Workweek Mean for the Future of Work?

• Workplace, Teams, & Culture
• Talent Management
• Work-Life Balance

Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected people’s working lives, most recently advancing a shift toward flexible work arrangements and making ideas like a four-day workweek commonplace. Under these modified schedules, employees typically work four days and get a three-day weekend — with, it’s critical to note, no reduction in pay.

Advocates have long suggested that having employees work four days instead of five increases productivity, and the supporting evidence is indeed overwhelmingly positive. For example, last year in Iceland, researchers found that a four-day workweek without a pay cut improved workers’ well-being and productivity . And when parliamentary elections were being held in Scotland last year, first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign included the promise of 10 million pounds for companies to pilot a four-day week , an experiment that’s currently underway . Ireland, too, will test out a four-day workweek for six months this year , and Spain has launched a three-year 32-hour workweek experiment as part of the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

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Businesses across the globe are becoming increasingly interested in the benefits of giving employees an extra day off, encouraged by Microsoft’s August 2019 trial of a four-day workweek in Japan, which resulted in a 40% rise in productivity . Since then, many other organizations have followed suit. The British arm of camera company Canon is among the latest to try a four-day workweek without a pay cut. In the U.S., Kickstarter and Bolt are among the many companies experimenting with four-day weeks , as is Unilever , which announced last November that it would be piloting such a schedule in New Zealand.

A shorter week could also lead to a flood of job applications, as Atom Bank discovered; almost immediately after announcing a four-day week for its 430 staff members, the company saw a 500% increase in job applications . The bank’s employees will now work 34 hours over four days (down from 37.5 hours in the past), taking either Monday or Friday off.

What Does This Mean for the Future of Work?

According to new research from Henley Business School, more than two-thirds of companies believe that offering a four-day week will be essential for future business success. Following the release of their 2019 white paper titled “ Four Better or Four Worse? ,” which explored attitudes toward flexible work and the four-day workweek, the researchers revisited the subject in November 2021, with quantitative surveys of over 2,000 employees and 500 leaders in the U.K. Their findings concluded that the four-day week positively affects well-being : Seventy-eight percent of employers said that their employees feel less stressed at work, an increase of 5% from 2019.

Interestingly, the pandemic changed many people’s opinions about the most significant benefits of an abbreviated workweek. A clear majority (70%) agreed that a shorter workweek would improve their overall quality of life, and more than two-thirds thought their mental health would improve with greater work flexibility. Furthermore, 69% of employees believe their family life would improve with fewer workdays. When asked how they would spend their extra day off, meeting up with family was the most popular activity across all generations (66%). Shorter workweeks could also positively affect retail, with 54% of people saying they’d use the extra day to go shopping. Charities could benefit as well, given that a quarter of respondents said they’d use the time to volunteer.

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Of businesses already implementing a four-day workweek, 68% (up from 63% in 2019) said flexible work arrangements are helping them to attract the right talent by demonstrating the organization’s forward-thinking approach to work, such as greater autonomy stemming from meeting-free days . These businesses also recognize that their potential employees expect the norm to be “portfolio careers” of more than one job.

Indeed, in the 2021 Henley survey, 37% of employees indicated that a career in which they had multiple jobs or employers (also known as gig work ) would be a “desirable way to live,” up from 30% in 2019.

In the wake of the great resignation, organizations should embrace the four-day week to retain staff and attract new talent. The pandemic has permanently altered how employers and employees approach their work arrangements, so calls for a four-day workweek will only grow louder.

About the Author

Benjamin Laker ( @drbenlaker ) is a professor of leadership at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School and coauthor of Too Proud to Lead: How Hubris Can Destroy Effective Leadership and What to Do About It (Bloomsbury, 2021).

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The four-day work week: a chronological, systematic review of the academic literature

• Published: 13 April 2023

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• Timothy T. Campbell   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5173-8086 1  

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Despite having been propounded for at least 50 years, the four-day work week (4DWW) has recently attracted global attention. The media headlines are dominated by the positive outcomes that can be expected by converting to a 4DWW. However, on examination the claims often have foundations that derive from reports published by advocacy groups and organisation’s self-reported results rather than scholarly research. This paper turns to the academic literature and uses a chronological, systematic review method to address the questions of what positives and negatives can be attributed to the 4DWW? Does the scholarly research support the popular contemporary claims? And what can be learned from more than 50 years of scholarly 4DWW publications that can inform future research? Drawing on 31 academic articles that specifically researched the 4DWW, the conclusions found that the majority demonstrated favourable results such as increased morale, job satisfaction, cost reductions and reduced turnover whilst negatives included performance measures and monitoring being intensified, scheduling problems, and that benefits may fade over time. The impact on productivity and the environment were inconclusive. Overall, the scholarly research paints a more complicated and ambiguous picture compared to that presented by 4DWW advocates and the media. More contemporary research utilising rigorous methodologies is required.

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Campbell, T.T. The four-day work week: a chronological, systematic review of the academic literature. Manag Rev Q (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-023-00347-3

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One company’s 4-day workweek experiment increased productivity by 24% and cut burnout in half

Good morning!

Love it or hate it, one of the biggest trends shaking up the workplace right now is the rise of the four-day workweek . And even though a global trial of the working model found that it delivered some major successes , but most employers remain skeptical .

Exos, a performance coaching company with more than 3,500 employees, has been experimenting with a four-day workweek since May of 2023. Executives say it has boosted productivity as well as reduced burnout , emotional exhaustion , and disconnect . 

“Like most companies, we were struggling when we were coming out of the pandemic,” Greg Hill, chief people officer at Exos, tells Fortune. “We looked at ourselves, I looked at myself, and we realized something had to change.” 

The company decided to launch “You Do You Fridays,” when workers choose how to spend their day. Hill says some people might still take that time to do work during the busy season, but the vast majority of workers take the day off. And although “Friday” is in the tag line, teams can choose whatever day suits them best. For example, some Exos workers enjoy rotating between flexible Mondays and Wednesdays. “We are proving it’s working in a very complex organization. And we’re really proud of the fact that it doesn’t have one formula,” Hill says. 

Within the first six months of the program, Exos’ sales pipeline shot up 211%. After nearly a year under the new schedule, about 91% of the company’s staffers say they are productive at work, compared to just 67% before the launch—a 24% increase. Burnout also dropped drastically; prior to the new workweek, around 70% of workers surveyed said they experienced burnout, which is now down to 36%. Additionally, employee turnover shrank from 47% in 2022 before the pilot launch to 29% at the end of 2023. 

Managers seem to agree that employees are thriving. Performance reviews have been as positive after the four-day workweek switch as they were before. By giving employees more choice and responsibility in how they work, Hill says Exos has also fostered a sense of trust between the company and its workforce.

“That feeling of trust has really magnified a culture of connectivity and loyalty,” he says. “We feel that in our poll surveys, we feel that in our offsites, we see it in our turnover.”

As a “client-centric organization,” Hill says Exos was concerned about potentially disrupting the consumer experience with any issues from a condensed schedule. But they say their NPS score, which measures consumer loyalty, remains high, which the company sees as a testament to how employee output and performance has stayed consistent as the organization has made huge cultural changes.

Exos began the 4-day workweek as a quarterly program, but the metrics have proven to be so promising that the company will now review it annually. 

“We’re going to continue to hone it and have what we call continuous improvement with it,” says Hill. 

Emma Burleigh [email protected]

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

Tesla will lay off 10% of its global workforce in an effort to cut costs as the company deals with intense competition and falling EV sales. Reuters

General Electric is selling Crotonville, its manager training grounds, as a slew of companies are ditching their properties designed to coach high-performing workers. Wall Street Journal

A U.S.-based Volkswagen factory will decide whether to unionize this week—and it could be the first foreign carmaker whose workers organize in America. Bloomberg

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune .

WFH verdict. Nike’s CEO stands behind the company’s RTO policies , which brought teams fully in-office 18 months ago, saying that “ disruptive innovation” isn’t easily achievable over Zoom. — Jason Ma

Connected. Gen Z workers like going into the office more than their older coworkers because they want to build in-person relationships and be a part of company culture. — Courtney Vinopal, HR Brew, Morning Brew

Skills rut. Almost half of bosses say they haven’t been able to find new talented applicants within the last year, but they might be overlooking the potential of their current employees. — Jane Thier

Unconventional. One recent graduate took up a gig waitressing at a marketing conference in order to network and hand out resumes to hiring managers—and the plan landed her a job. — Orianna Rosa Royle

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Four-day work week: measuring performance on output, not time. Image:  Unsplash/ Campaign Creators

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Updated December 2022.

• The results of a study into a four-day working week are in and suggest positive impacts from a change to standard working hours.
• 97% of employees who took part in the trial said they wanted to continue with a four-day week.
• The likes of Microsoft in Japan and Unilever in New Zealand have already seen benefits of the switch.
• Employers aim to improve productivity by providing a better work-life balance for employees.

There has been much debate about a four-day working week, but the pandemic and technological advancements have begun to shift some employers’ mindsets to one that is more open and trusting of their workforces.

And the results of a global study point to the positive impact of trials that have been taking place across the globe. The bulk of the 33 companies and 903 employees who took part are unlikely to return to a standard working week, according to CNN Business .

Most of the companies that took part were in the United States and Ireland. Trials have also taken place in other parts of the world, but wider adoption is likely much further off.

The study was run by a non-profit, 4 Day Week Global, in collaboration with researchers at 3 institutions - Boston College, University College Dublin and Cambridge University.

A separate trial, also run by 4 Day Week Global, took place in the United Kingdom this year. It included 70 companies and more than 3,000 workers. Results from the trial are due early next year.

Four-day work week in other parts of the world

So, where are other companies trialling the four-day work week pilot, and what results have they seen?

When Microsoft trialled a four-day week with no loss of pay in their Japan office, the company claimed productivity went up by just under 40% . Microsoft Japan also found that electricity costs fell by 23%, and when workers took Fridays off, they printed almost 60% less.

The four-day-working-week pilot that took place in Iceland between 2015 and 2019 was hailed an "overwhelming success" .

2,500 workers took part in the trial with the results revealing that worker wellbeing increased in areas such as stress and burnout, health and work-life balance.

The World Economic Forum’s Jobs Reset Summit brings together leaders from business, government, civil society, media and the broader public to shape a new agenda for growth, jobs, skills and equity.

The two-day virtual event, being held on 1-2 June 2021, will address the most critical areas of debate, articulate pathways for action, and mobilize the most influential leaders and organizations to work together to accelerate progress.

The Summit will develop new frameworks, shape innovative solutions and accelerate action on four thematic pillars: Economic Growth, Revival and Transformation; Work, Wages and Job Creation; Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning; and Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice.

New Zealand

In 2018, estate planners Perpetual Guardian entered their 240 staff into a four-day-work week trial, resulting in 78% of them saying they were able to better manage their work-life balance – an increase of 24 percentage points.

The four-day working week is “ not just having a day off a week – it’s about delivering productivity, and meeting customer service standards, meeting personal and team business goals and objectives,” says Andrew Barnes, Perpetual Guardian founder.

In 2020, Unilever also stepped forward in New Zealand with plans for a four-day week. It placed the 81 employees based in the country into a year-long trial .

“Our goal is to measure performance on output, not time. We believe the old ways of working are outdated and no longer fit for purpose,” says Nick Bangs, Managing Director of Unilever New Zealand.

Have you read?

Could the four-day week become the new normal, it’s time to switch to a four-day working week, say these two davos experts, work less to save the planet how to make sure a four-day week actually cuts emissions.

Spain launched a four-day-week trial in 2021 , following calls from left-wing party Más País. The trial is set to run for three years.

“With the four-day work week (32 hours), we’re launching into the real debate of our times,” said Iñigo Errejón of Más País on Twitter.

From a six- to a four-day work week?

The five-day working week is often credited to Henry Ford, who in 1914 proposed that his car production switch from a six-day working week to five. The creation of unions in the 20th century helped to make a five-day week and two days’ rest the norm.

To promote a positive and proactive approach to navigating the future of employment, the World Economic Forum launched the Preparing for the Future of Work initiative . Through reskilling and upskilling, the initiative aims to grow new pipelines and demonstrate a smart redeployment of human capital.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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More companies are trying out the 4-day workweek. But it might not be for everyone

Jeevika Verma

LaDonna Speiser has been working four days a week since February. She says she's not ready to give it up. Kyle Green for NPR hide caption

LaDonna Speiser has been working four days a week since February. She says she's not ready to give it up.

On a recent summer Friday, 59-year old LaDonna Speiser takes her grand-nephew to the pool and helps her mother-in-law with errands. She visits the eye doctor and makes an appointment with a physical therapist. She even spends some time reading on the patio. She's able to do all this because her employer, a company called Healthwise, offers her a four-day workweek.

With the pandemic and the " Great Resignation " making it harder for companies to attract and retain talent, a growing number of white-collar employers like Healthwise are exploring new avenues to make work life more appealing. One of them — the four-day workweek — considers if workers really need to be working 40 hours a week. As part of its Work Life series, NPR's Morning Edition looked into how realistic this actually is.

Speiser's company started experimenting with four-day workweek last year. Based in Boise, Idaho, the company produces health education materials for hospitals and health plans. It recently completed a pilot trial run by the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global , which helps organizations with the transition away from the traditional five-day workweek.

LaDonna Speiser is pictured outside of her company, Healthwise, on June 29. The Idaho-based company experimented with four-day workweeks last year and made it permanent in February. Kyle Green for NPR hide caption

For some companies, the benefits are clear

For Healthwise, cutting back to four work days was actually good for business.

"Our revenues went up this year more than we had budgeted," says CEO Adam Husney. "We've delivered on products on time or ahead of where we have done. I would say the things we are able to measure have all been positive."

What's more, these positives are tied to one of the objectives of the trial — which was to learn how a four-day workweek can help employees with burnout.

Enjoy The Extra Day Off! More Bosses Give 4-Day Workweek A Try

4-Day Workweek Boosted Workers' Productivity By 40%, Microsoft Japan Says

"There are many people who are spending more time at the office than they need to," says Juliet Schor, an economist and sociology professor at Boston College. Schor is the author of the book The Overworked American , and leads research at 4 Day Week Global.

"If work were organized more efficiently," she says, "[employees] could get it done in a shorter period of time, go home, and have a better life."

Companies that join the pilot program are asked to test a four day workweek for six months. The requirement for participation is no reduction in pay but substantial reduction in hours. The vast majority of participants have gone to four days with 32 hours of work, with Friday as the most common day off. So far, 22 companies in the U.S. and 70 in the U.K . have enrolled in a trial this year. Companies in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are also involved.

Depending on the job, it might not be a realistic option

Juliet Schor, an economist and sociology professor, sits for a portrait at her office at Boston College on June 27, 2022. Vanessa Leroy/NPR hide caption

To be sure, the experiment isn't for everyone.

"If you look at the companies that are pioneering the four-day week, tech is very much at the forefront," says Schor. Kickstarter, with roughly 100 employees, is a notable company in the trial. "White collar work is the sort of dominant work at the moment," she notes.

Indeed, it seems that it may be easier to try out a four-day workweek in an office environment, where there is often more flexibility when it comes to schedules, than in other industries. When NPR called a manufacturing plant in the northeast that makes steel products, a floor manager who answered the phone said he didn't have time to grab a supervisor to speak on the record. Before hanging up, he said the plant was so slammed because of supply chain shortages and backlogged orders, that there's no way they could make a four-day workweek happen.

But when it comes to white-collar work, one of Schor's objectives is to see if a reduction in work hours is actually feasible. She brought up an experiment with health care workers in Sweden, where nurses were given six hour days instead of their usual eight hours to combat stress.

"There are many people who are spending more time at the office than they need to," says economist Juliet Schor. "If work were organized more efficiently," she says, "[employees] could get it done in a shorter period of time, go home and have a better life." Vanessa Leroy/NPR hide caption

"What these experiments showed is that the nurses getting the six hour days, as we would expect ... were happier," says Schor. "But the care facilities had to hire people for those extra hours. And what they found was although there was a small increase in costs, a lot of those additional salaries were offset by lower health care costs and lower unemployment for their existing workforce."

In the end, Schor says the four-day workweek ends up being less costly for employers – not just in revenue, but also in productivity.

"And of course, the patient outcomes improved," says Schor about the Swedish trial. "So I think we are going to start to see more of this in health care precisely because they are suffering a lot of burnout. The other thing in health care, of course, is mistakes. When you've got tired and stressed employees, you're more likely to make mistakes."

Some HR professionals see downsides

Some experts say there are clear downsides of the four-day workweek that are important to consider. While Healthwise gives employees Fridays off, some human resources professionals say that can create a scheduling challenge.

David Lewis, CEO of the human resources consulting firm OperationsInc, says the post-COVID-19 workplace has already made it difficult for employees to unplug.

"I keep hearing more and more that 'I work at home' or 'I live at work'," says Lewis. "People don't turn their laptops off, they don't disconnect their telephones."

The 40-hour workweek isn't working. Reducing it could help with productivity

For Lewis, the fundamental aspects of work-life balance are at play. In one recent study , researchers in New Zealand found that while employees were attracted by the four-day workweek, in practice several aspects of their work intensified after the change, including pressure from managers around things like performance.

"How exactly are you going to move people in the exact opposite direction to think about three days versus two days being disconnected when [they're] struggling to disconnect for even a couple of hours during the course of an entire seven-day week?"

Similarly, for Lindsay Tjepkema, the CEO of a marketing technology company called Casted, Fridays off is an exciting bumper sticker of an idea but it doesn't necessarily make her employees' lives any better.

Casted CEO and cofounder, Lindsay Tjepkema leads a senior leadership meeting at the Casted office building in Indianapolis on June 29. Kaiti Sullivan for NPR hide caption

"Real flexibility is being able to say, 'Hey I want to start my workday late' or 'I want to cut out early on Wednesdays for kid reasons, for friend reasons, for personal reasons, for pet reasons,'" says Tjepkema. "So if I mandate that flexibility at our company means you get Fridays off, that's not flexibility. That's mandating a day off."

Casted CEO Lindsay Tjepkema says the four-day workweek may not create as much flexibility for employees as some may think. Kaiti Sullivan for NPR hide caption

The trials that Schor is helping lead are still ongoing, so there isn't enough final data to draw conclusions about how much companies can save or how much better employee performance and satisfaction are because of a four-day workweek. And of course, this is all happening in a tough economy. Inflation is hurting companies and workers alike. Interest rates are one the rise, leaving many business leaders bracing for a recession . Even so, Schor is convinced the four-day workweek has irreversible momentum.

"If you think about things like ... Friday off every other week, Fridays off in the summer, no meeting Fridays ... Friday is just gradually becoming a day in which people are less plugged in to their job," says Schor. "And one of the things we know is that once people have something like this, it's very hard to take it away."

LaDonna Speiser is living this. She's been working a regular four-day week since February. When we asked her if she'd be willing to give that up for a different job somewhere else, she sort of laughed and said her life has changed with this new schedule. She has more of it now and she's not so ready to give that up.

Four-Day Work Weeks Are Good for Your Health, a Large Study Finds

A four-day work week improves employees’ health in numerous ways, from reducing anxiety and stress to enabling better sleep and more time for exercise, according to a large new report .

“It genuinely has, even with our academic skepticism, been a really positive outcome,” says report co-author Brendan Burchell, a social sciences professor at the U.K.’s University of Cambridge who studies work’s effects on psychological well-being.

The report builds upon previous studies on the lifestyle and health benefits of working less by summarizing the experiences of 61 companies—and a total of about 2,900 employees—that piloted shorter work weeks from June to December 2022. Companies were recruited to join the study by advocacy groups 4 Day Week Global and 4 Day Week Campaign and workplace research group Autonomy, and researchers from Boston College and the University of Cambridge, including Burchell, oversaw participant interviews, data collection, and analysis.

Companies in the study, most of which were based in the U.K., were free to set their schedules however they wanted, as long as they “meaningfully” reduced working hours without docking pay. More than half of the companies that completed the researchers’ surveys gave all employees either Monday or Friday off, while others tried solutions like staggered schedules or shorter days throughout the week. Over the course of the six-month pilot period, employees’ average weekly working hours fell from 38 to 34—a bit shy of the target 32, which suggests some people either worked more on the days they were in the office or worked some on days off. Still, 71% of respondents said they were working less after the trial ended than before.

For many workers, a four-day week translated to better health. About 40% of respondents said they experienced less work-related stress, and 71% reported lower levels of burnout . More than 40% of employees said their mental health had improved, with significant portions of the group reporting decreases in anxiety and negative emotions.

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Read More : How to Be Ambitious Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health

Almost 40% of employees also said their physical health got better during the pilot period, perhaps because they had more time for hobbies, exercise, cooking, family time, and other leisure activities. Nearly half of workers also said they weren’t as tired as they were before the experiment, and 40% said it was easier to get to sleep.

Burchell feared that shorter weeks would force people to work at a higher pace or intensity when they were on the clock, which could have been stressful enough to negate the wellness benefits of having extra time off. But, he says, that doesn’t seem to have been the case. “People found all sorts of ways of working more efficiently, cutting out lots of the time they were wasting,” he says.

In the end, 96% of employees said they preferred four-day schedules.

The shift was positive for employers, too. Among companies in the study, revenue increased by an average of about 1% during the pilot period, and employee turnover and absenteeism went down. Almost all of the businesses in the program said they planned to continue the four-day work week experiment, in some cases indefinitely.

That’s a good thing, because most employees said they’d need a significant pay bump to go back to working five full days per week, and 15% said no amount of money would convince them to go back.

Researcher Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College who studies working hours, says she’s optimistic that other companies, including those in the U.S., are waking up to the benefits of shorter work weeks. The growing trend of “summer Fridays” and periodic days off throughout the year, she says, points to a growing acceptance of working less—one that may culminate in four-day work weeks adopted at a wider scale.

The pandemic also made people reimagine what the workplace can look like , Burchell adds.

“When I told people I was looking at work time reductions three years ago, people thought I was a bit utopian, a bit of a dreamer,” he says. “Now, everyone’s talking about it like, ‘This is happening.’”

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Write to Jamie Ducharme at [email protected]

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Everything you need to know about the four-day workweek

Studies have shown that the four-day workweek, which allows employees to work fewer days without a change in benefits or pay, can increase employee productivity and overall happiness. But it’s not the right fit for every company or team. Here’s how to know if it will work for you.

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed how we think about—and what we want—from our work. It accelerated remote working trends and brought discussions about how to best support teams to the forefront of the cultural conversation. 

If you’re considering making a shift to the four-day workweek—or are looking for other ways to support your team’s mental health and well-being through alternative work schedules—we’ll walk you through how to decide what’s best for your company and team.  

What is the four-day work week? 

As the name suggests, the four-day workweek is a shortened version of the traditional workweek, in which workers work for four days a week rather than the standard five days, and have a three-day weekend instead of the traditional two days off.

The four-day workweek shortens both the days that employees work and the total hours. In a four-day workweek, workers log 32 hours per week rather than 40 hours per week. Benefits and pay, however, remain the same. 

The four-day workweek certainly existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic increased conversations around and adoption of the alternative schedule. Let’s dig into the rise in popularity of the four-day workweek model. 

How to design your hybrid work policy: A research-backed playbook

Learn how to define hybrid work, analyze your current policy, and create and put into place the best hybrid work policy for your organization’s needs.

What’s behind the rise in the four-day work week? 

According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey , which surveyed 19,000 workers in 2022, 54% of all workers surveyed said the four-day work week is among their top three priorities when it comes to workplace benefits. Support for the four-day workweek is especially strong among the younger generation of workers, with 62% of both millennials and gen Z supporting the shift. 

The desire for shorter workweeks‚ especially among younger generations, isn’t wholly surprising considering factors including: 

The rise of burnout and work anxiety

According to Asana’s 2022 Anatomy of Work , 63% of all knowledge workers have experienced burnout in the last year. The experience is particularly prevalent among the generations that have signaled their support for the four-day work week, with 74% of millennials and 84% of gen Z saying they experience burnout.

While workers have found some balance as society—and offices—have reopened, the burnout phenomenon, combined with rising work anxiety , have led us to look for innovative solutions to improve overall employee well-being . 

The desire for a better work-life balance following COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic did more than result in mounting burnout in the workplace. It also challenged the way we approach work, as well as what workers want from their employers. Following the pandemic, we’ve seen an increased desire for location flexibility and a better work-life balance among workers. 

In fact, LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report found that work-life balance is the top priority for professionals when choosing a new job—trumping even compensation. The four-day work week offers an opportunity to give workers an improved work-life balance, while also benefiting the companies they work for. 

Pros of the four-day work week

There are several benefits of the four-day work week, for both employees and employers. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable pros of making the shift. 

Increased productivity and employee efficiency

Research on the importance of mental health days, PTO, workcations , sabbaticals , and more has demonstrated again and again that rested, recharged employees who prioritize their mental health are more likely to produce creative, high-impact work. The bottom line is that overworked , burnt out employees are stretched thin and their work is likely to reflect that fact. 

The four-day workweek has the potential to combat this by improving employee’s overall well-being and wellness, resulting in higher productivity. A study examining Iceland’s trail found that worker productivity either remained the same or improved for the majority of workplaces that decreased worker hours. Microsoft Japan saw similar results in a smaller trial they launched: the employer tested a short-term four-day workweek and saw a 40% increase in productivity.

The thought process is straightforward—employees that have more time to focus on themselves, their families, and their hobbies have a greater sense of well-being, which translates into higher team morale , better employee engagement , and ultimately happier, more productive employees. And that’s a win for everyone.   

Improved worker well-being

Increasing—and maintaining— employee well-being is top-of-mind for employers. More than a buzzword, employee well-being has important implications for companies, as happier workers are more productive and more likely to stay at a company long-term.

Anecdotal evidence shows that shifting to the four-day workweek could be one answer to improving long-term employee well-being. Iceland’s large-scale trials , which involved shifting more than 1% of the nation’s workforce to a four-day schedule, found that employees were happier overall, citing reduced stress levels and burnout and a greater work-life balance. 

Environmental impact

One surprising perk of the four-day workweek? The potential environmental benefits. Since employees would be commuting to work fewer times a week, there’s a potential for decreased carbon emissions and a reduced carbon footprint. 

The shift to a four-day workweek could have a similar impact. One UK study found that shifting to the four-day workweek model could reduce the country’s carbon footprint by 127 million tonnes per year by 2025—the equivalent of taking 27 million cars off the road.

Improved worker recruitment and retention

Increasingly, it’s become clear that flexible work options and a focus on employee well-being and work-life balance are important to today’s workers. In fact, recent research from Gallup shows that some workers are willing to walk away from jobs that don’t offer flexible work options, suggesting that both attractin

g and retaining talent link to such work arrangements. 

That’s not to say that it’s all or nothing with remote work. Employees still value in-office perks and research shows they prefer the office for interpersonal work like onboarding, 1:1 meetings, and strategy development. Ultimately, workers want to feel valued at work—and have time to exist outside the office. Employers who provide working options that facilitate these qualities in the workplace will have a happier, more engaged workforce—plus, they’ll be able to grow and retain top talent.  

Cons of the four-day work week

While shifting to a four-day workweek offers several benefits for companies and workers, it might not be the right fit for every company. Below, we jump into some of the potential negatives of the four-day workweek—and how to know if it’s right for your team. 

Difficulty scaling, leading to worker resentment

Depending on your industry, the four-day workweek may not be possible for some workers (or whole companies). For example, workers who are client-facing, work in customer service, or work in an arm of the business that can’t shut down for an extra day (such as production) may not be able to work four days a week without impacting the business’s bottom line or relationships. 

So far, companies that have shifted to the four-day workweek —or are participating in pilot programs to test the shift—largely employ white-collar and knowledge workers, with an emphasis on the tech industry. This poses potential drawbacks for companies that employ a mix of knowledge workers and manual laborers, or full-time, salaried employees and hourly workers, as there’s a potential the shift won’t scale to all employees. Even at companies without these restraints, certain departments may not be able to go offline for an extra day a week, leading to potential resentment among employees. 

Potential for disrupted customer relationships

Similarly, if your company is based on customer and client relationships, implementing a four-day workweek might be difficult. Keeping non-traditional working hours has the potential to impact relationships if clients need access to your services on the day your office is closed. 

There are workarounds if you want to keep nontraditional hours—or implement a compressed work schedule—without disrupting the relationships you’ve built with clients. For example, you could consider implementing alternating four-day workweeks for members of your team or stagger the days members of your team take off, so someone is available every work day. 

You’ll want to think through the pros and cons of implementing such alternative schedules, for both your team and your customers. Fixed hours, for example, allows everyone on your team to work at the same time, building collaboration and facilitating connections. On the other hand, staggered days might be better for customers—since staggering the days your team members are off means there’s no disruption to service—but it could have a negative impact on company culture and team collaboration .  

Increased risk for companies

Any big change to your company comes with risk, and a shift to the four-day workweek is no different. After all, there’s no guarantee that the four-day workweek will work for your company—or your workforce. 

For example, since you can’t know for certain that a four-day workweek will increase worker productivity or engagement, there’s always the possibility that you could see a decrease in overall worker output. If you employ hourly workers, there’s also a possibility that you’ll need to bring them in on days when the office is closed, leading to overtime pay and increased cost for the company. 

Ultimately, it’s up to your company to decide whether you can mitigate the business risks posed by shifting work schedules. Doing so before implementing the change is key, as rolling back the shift could discourage your team. 

Scheduling and implementation difficulties 

Implementing the four-day workweek—and making the necessary adjustments to support it—might be easier said than done. If you’re planning to stagger days off to ensure coverage for clients and projects, it could mean difficulty scheduling internal, cross-functional meetings given that different teams will be off at different times. Similarly, a compressed workweek could make it more difficult to find time to schedule meetings, or result in a schedule jammed-packed with them. 

The four-day workweek could mean more upfront work for your project managers and team leads, since they’re tasked with adjusting and managing their team’s workload so everything fits—and gets accomplished—in four days. The new schedule could also end up adding additional tasks to their plates and result in more work as they monitor performance and productivity.  

How to decide if the four-day workweek is right for your company

There’s no hard-and-fast answer on whether or not you should implement a four-day workweek at your company. You’ll want to take different factors into account—like your industry, your company culture and, of course, your employees’ opinions on the shift. 

Here’s what to think about when considering the shift:

Consider your business model and industry. If your business model is based around functions like customer support, or if you’re in an industry that works primarily with external clients, implementing the four-day workweek may not be feasible—or profitable. Think about how the shift might impact your company and customers to determine whether it’s something that can be realistically implemented.

Determine if you can be profitable and ensure coverage. Before you make any kind of announcement or move forward implementing any type of schedule change, you should first figure out if you can be profitable and provide coverage within the new model. Work with departments that might struggle with a four-day workweek, like customer service or IT, to map out hypothetical coverage plans. You should also work with teams like business and operations to determine what impact (if any) switching to working four days a week could have on business profitability. 

Remember: One size doesn’t fit all. If your company isn’t a perfect fit for the four-day workweek, that’s ok. There’s a lot you can do to shift schedules and prioritize employee well-being beyond simply cutting a day out of the workweek. Consider implementing workarounds to allow for a four-day week without impacting customer satisfaction or cutting into your bottom line, like staggered work schedules or alternating four-day workweeks. If changing up schedules doesn’t work for your team, there are other alternatives you can offer to prioritize your team’s work-life balance—we’ll run through those in a bit. 

Speak with stakeholders. Work with stakeholders , both internal and external, to discuss expectations and any potential concerns. Meeting with stakeholders early will help give you a better understanding of specific work demands, and what may or may not be feasible to meet them. 

Think about creating a business contingency and risk mitigation plan. If you’re considering moving forward with a four-day work week, consider creating a business contingency plan to help you mitigate potential risks, should they arise. This will help you gain a better understanding of what potential challenges face the company should you make the move to a four-day workweek, as well as how to combat them. 

Account for team and company culture . You know your team and company culture the best—do you think a four-day workweek is right for them? It’s important to consider your team’s roles, how they work with cross-functional partners, and where they fall within the organizational structure. 

Talk to your team. Your team will be heavily impacted by the decision to shift to a four-day workweek, so it’s important to make sure you have their buy-in. Are they excited about the possibility? Do they have any concerns about how the shift could affect their career growth or workload? Talking things through with your team will help you determine if the work schedule shift is right for you. 

Roll out the process thoughtfully using change management. Change management can help you prepare your team for any big organizational change and guide them through the process. If you do decide to roll out a four-day workweek, implement a thoughtful change management process to introduce the change, get buy-in from your team, and demonstrate the value of the shift. Change management can also help measure the success of organizational change, so it’s an ideal process to implement when making a big shift.

Consider alternatives to the four-day workweek. Not sure that the four-day workweek is right for you? No problem—there are plenty of alternatives you can consider that won’t leave your office shutdown one day a week. For starters, 9/80 schedules slightly increase their working hours over two weeks in exchange for a day off every other week, an alternative that would give workers additional days off without reducing the hours they work. You could also consider offering shorter working hours over a five-day workweek or more flexible working hours Fridays, to give employees breathing room without shutting the office down for a day. Implementing flexible work schedules, like the hybrid work model , can also increase work-life balance without implementing shorter weeks.   

Support your team as work evolves

The four-day workweek is a hot work trend at the moment—in fact, 70 companies in Britain kicked off a large-scale, six-month trial of the model in June—but it’ll take time to see if it endures long-term. 

No matter what happens with the four-day workweek, there’s no denying that the way we work is evolving. Whether the future of work involves the four-day work week, remote work and hybrid working models, fully remote teams, or a combination of these work types, how we work—and what we want from work—has changed for good. 

As you and your team navigate the evolving work environment, providing support and setting realistic expectations is key to setting your team up for success. Leading with empathy, communicating transparently, and providing flexibility will ensure you and your team evolve—together.  

Related resources

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New research may have just paved the way for a 4-day work week

• A new global study found a four-day work week was a "resounding success" in a pilot program.
• It found revenue increased over 8% over the six-month trial period for 33 participating companies.
• On the employee side, respondents reported less burnout, less fatigue, and an increase in physical health.

If you're trying to convince your boss to adopt a four-day work week, a new study just might help your case.

On Tuesday, 4 Day Week Global — a New Zealand based nonprofit — released data taken from 33 participating companies that employed 969 people based in the US, Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada who all adopted a four-day work week in a pilot program over a six-month period.

The research found the shortened work week was a "resounding success on virtually every dimension."

Related stories

"Companies are extremely pleased with their performance, productivity and overall experience, with almost all of them already committing or planning to continue with the 4 day week schedule," the report said. "Revenue has risen over the course of the trial. Sick days and absenteeism are down. Companies are hiring. Resignations fell slightly, a striking finding during the 'Great Resignation.' Employees are similarly enthusiastic. And climate impacts, while less well-measured, are also encouraging."

Over the trial period, revenue among the participating companies rose 8.14%, and when compared to the same time period last year, revenue jumped 37.55%. And on the employee side, the findings were significant — 67% of employees reported being less burned-out, the extra day without work allowed exercise to increase by about 23 minutes per week, and sleep problems decreased by 8%.

Additionally, even with less time each week to complete work, the respondents in the survey did not see a significant increase to their workload.

A respondent said in the report that they view the shortened work week as "equivalent to ~25% pay bump," with another saying that "the trial has been fantastic, allowing me to take the extra day or time when I can. Due to the nature of this role it isn't always possible, however even having the chance or possibility to do so has made a big difference in my lifestyle."

While five-day work weeks remain the norm in the US, some companies have started testing out shorter weeks and have reported huge successes. As Insider previously reported , a Chick-fil-A owner in Florida launched a three-day work week and received 400 applications for one job, despite the 13 or 14-hour shifts.

The four-day work week has also caught attention of some lawmakers. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)  has previously endorsed the "32-Hour Workweek Act," first introduced by California Rep. Mark Takano last year and supported by unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU. 

"It is past time that we put people and communities over corporations and their profits — finally prioritizing the health, wellbeing, and basic human dignity of the working class rather than their employers' bottom line," CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal said in a statement. "The 32-hour work week would go a long way toward finally righting that balance."

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This U.S. company tested a 4-day workweek—and says it made workers happier and more productive

A four-day workweek could be the antidote to employee burnout. 

The results from a six-month trial involving thousands of employees suggest that working only four days instead of five reduces employee burnout while boosting productivity, retention and team morale. 

Exos , a U.S.-based company with more than 3,000 employees around the world, recently published the results from the first six months of its four-day workweek trial , which started last spring and is ongoing. Exos is a coaching company that trains pro athletes and runs corporate wellness programs at nearly 25% of the Fortune 100, including Adobe and Humana.

As part of the experiment, the majority of employees work four days and then have what the company calls "You Do You Fridays" during which they can take time off, catch up on work or use the leisure time as they see fit.  Salaried employees at Exos who participated in the experiment moved to a four-day 40-hour workweek with no change in pay, while hourly-paid staff were given the option to work between 32 and 40 hours during the four-day week based on their preference and arrangement with their manager, Exos chief people officer Greg Hill tells CNBC Make It .

The goal is for the policy to be flexible and enable workers to practice intentional recovery or build rest into their schedule in a way that's effective for them. There's just one rule: You can't message other people or try to set up meetings for Fridays. 

Exos measured the impact of the four-day workweek on its employees — with help from  organizational psychologist Adam Grant and Wharton School of Business doctoral candidate Marissa Shandell — and found significant benefits that mirror what other four-day workweek experiments have shown. 

The biggest benefits of a four-day workweek: Happier, more productive employees

Exos reports that six months after introducing a four-day workweek, business performance and productivity remained high, revenue increased and turnover dropped. 

Following the addition of "You Do You Fridays," for example, 91% of Exos employees reported spending their time more effectively at work, compared with 64% before the pilot. On top of that, manager appraisals reflected the same level of performance before and after the pilot period. 

Exos also saw a significant increase in retention: Its turnover rate fell from 47% in 2022 to 29% in 2023 (though it's important to note that Exos' experiment overlapped with a cooling hiring market ). 

But the biggest benefit of embracing a four-day workweek has been the increased efficiency, says Hill. Put simply, working a shortened workweek meant people got more done in less time.

Hill notes that Exos introduced safeguards to ensure employees could concentrate on the job without overextending themselves Monday through Thursday to get through their workload.

Managers encouraged "microbreaks" by limiting most meetings to 25 minutes and encouraged asynchronous work whenever possible, says Hill. Exos also pushed for Tuesdays and Thursdays to be dedicated to meetings, while saving Mondays and Wednesdays for individual work to help people avoid the "task switching" that can slow productivity.

Employees who can't take a full day off each week because they're working with a client on-site get blocks of time throughout the week for flexibility. Roughly 85% of Exos' employees work in-person, while the remaining 15% are hybrid or remote.

An extra day off 'isn't just another paid vacation'

One of the growing pains of implementing a four-day workweek has been making sure employees understand that having Fridays off "isn't just another paid vacation," says Hill, but an opportunity to recharge, take care of household responsibilities or finish any outstanding tasks so they're less stressed and distracted during the workweek.

"We had to spend some time making sure everyone understood that we weren't just adding a day off to your calendar at random, but that those days should be for strategic recovery, honoring Exos' ethos that work + rest = success," Hill adds. 

How the four-day workweek is gaining momentum

While the five-day schedule remains the standard in the U.S., global experiments to test a four-day workweek have gotten workers, and their bosses, onboard with the idea.

Dozens of countries including Ireland, Spain and the UK have tested a 4-day workweek, with overwhelmingly positive results: Businesses that participated in a six-month trial in the UK, which ended in December 2022, said switching to a 4-day workweek improved productivity, morale and team culture.

In the U.S., close to 81% of full-time workers support a four-day workweek, according to a July 2023 Bankrate report , which surveyed 2,367 adults.

The four-day workweek is gaining momentum in Congress, too: In March, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced legislation that would reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours without a pay cut.

It's a companion bill to one in the House of Representatives , which was reintroduced by Democratic Representative Mark Takano of California in March 2023. Takano had originally introduced the legislation in 2021, but it failed to advance in Congress.

Business leaders and billionaires alike expect flexible workweeks to become the norm.

IAC and Expedia chairman Barry Diller believes companies will eventually transition to working in the office four days a week, with a flexible Friday option. 

"I think sensibly — not necessarily a four-day workweek, but four days in the office, and Fridays you can work from home or work at your own schedule," he said during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. He added: "I think that is going to be the sensible evolution of all this, but it has to be standardized."

Mets owner and billionaire financier Steve Cohen also predicts a four-day workweek could soon be the norm — an idea that influenced his 2023 investment in golf startup league TGL. 

"I think I would have done the golf investment anyway because I think there's a longer-term thought, but my belief is a four-day workweek is coming," Cohen told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. 

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence will likely contribute to a shorter workweek, as well as the fact there are generally lower productivity levels on Friday, Cohen added. 

He continued: "I just think it's an eventuality … That's just going into a theme of more leisure for people, which means golf rounds that go up, interest will go up, [and] I guess courses will be crowded."

Companies that don't embrace the four-day workweek — or other flexibility options for its employees — could risk losing their competitive edge in hiring, says Hill. 

"Think about 'quiet quitting,' workers are building flexibility into their schedules with or without permission," he says. "What companies don't realize, too, is that you don't have to go from one extreme to the other — if you're not ready to embrace a four-day workweek, you can start with meeting-free afternoons. It's all about giving your employees opportunities to recover so they can perform at their best."

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This CEO says moving to a 4-day workweek helped his company avoid layoffs

clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

A four-day workweek pilot was so successful most firms say they won’t go back

15 percent of employees who participated said that “no amount of money” would convince them to go back to working five days a week.

If the idea of working four days a week for the same pay sounds like music to your ears, the results of a pilot program from the United Kingdom may give you cause for hope.

Dozens of companies there took part in the world’s largest trial of the four-day workweek — and a majority of supervisors and employees liked it so much they’ve decided to keep the arrangement. In fact, 15 percent of the employees who participated said “no amount of money” would convince them to go back to working five days a week.

Nearly 3,000 employees took part in the pilot , which was organized by the advocacy group 4 Day Week Global , in collaboration with the research group Autonomy, and researchers at Boston College and the University of Cambridge.

Companies that participated could adopt different methods to “meaningfully” shorten their employees’ workweeks — from giving them one day a week off to reducing their working days in a year to average out to 32 hours per week — but had to ensure the employees still received 100 percent of their pay.

At the end of the experiment, employees reported a variety of benefits related to their sleep, stress levels, personal lives and mental health, according to results published Tuesday. Companies’ revenue “stayed broadly the same” during the six-month trial, but rose 35 percent on average when compared with a similar period from previous years. Resignations decreased.

Of the 61 companies that took part in the trial, 56 said they would continue to implement four-day workweeks after the pilot ended, 18 of which said the shift would be permanent. Two companies are extending the trial. Only three companies did not plan to carry on with any element of the four-day workweek.

The results are likely to put the spotlight back on shorter workweeks as a possible solution to the high levels of employee burnout and the “Great Resignation” phenomenon exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, amid a global movement calling for businesses to ditch the in-office, 9-to-5, five-day workweek and adopt more flexible working practices instead.

The world’s largest four-day workweek pilot just launched in the U.K.

Increased revenue, improved employee well-being

The findings from the U.K. trial build on the results of an earlier, smaller pilot published in November and also coordinated by 4 Day Week Global. That experiment, which involved about 30 companies and 1,000 employees in several countries, resulted in increased revenue, reduced absenteeism and resignations, and improved employee well-being. None of the participating firms planned to return to five-day workweeks after the pilot ended.

The 4 Day Week Global group is coordinating these pilot programs as part of its global campaign to encourage more firms to switch from the standard 40-hour workweek to a 32-hour model for the same pay and benefits.

The U.K. pilot program involved twice as many companies and nearly three times as many employees as the earlier pilot and is the largest of its kind. The benefits to participants extended beyond the office and into employees’ personal lives.

Those who took part were less likely to report that they felt they did not have enough time in the week to take care of their children, grandchildren or older people in their lives. The time men spent looking after children increased by more than double that of women, pointing to positive effects of a shorter workweek on gender equality — though there was no change in the share of housework men and women reported taking on.

A majority of employees who experienced the four-day workweek didn’t want to go back: At the end of the pilot, they were asked how much money they would have to receive from their next employer to go back to a five-day week. Nearly a third said they would require a 26- to 50-percent increase and 8 percent said they would want 50 percent higher pay.

Four-day weeks and the freedom to move anywhere: Companies are rewriting the future of work (again)

Better work-life balance

A better work-life balance is the reason Michelle, a 49-year-old media executive who asked to be identified by her first name so she could speak candidly about her past employment, insisted on a four-day workweek when she applied to her current position. After working three- and then four-day weeks when she returned from maternity leave in 2015, she noticed a “stark” difference when she shifted back to five-day weeks working for a different company during the pandemic.

“Suddenly, it felt like my entire life was about work,” she says. She came “close to burnout” and, when her contract at that company ended, she was clear with prospective employers that she wanted to work four days a week. In her current position, she has Fridays off and is paid 80 percent of what she would earn if she worked five days.

“It feels like I can breathe,” she said. “It feels like I’m not constantly behind with my family life and feeling guilty and like squashing all of the jobs and errands and everything into two days.”

The extra time off is particularly helpful for child care, she says. She co-parents her 9-year-old son, who is autistic. In her previous job, when she worked three- or four-day weeks, the extra time “meant I could pick him up from school, we could spend more time together,” she says. “It makes a huge amount of difference to parents.”

A four-day workweek in Maryland? Maybe. Bill would set up a pilot program.

While the four-day workweek model has gained some steam, it’s still not standard practice globally, and much of the research on the policy is limited by size. Most of the companies that took part in the U.K. trial were small — 66 percent had 25 or fewer employees — and predisposed to exploring the concept of flexible work. Ninety percent of the participating employees were White, and 68 percent had at least an undergraduate degree.

Opponents of the four-day workweek say while the policy may benefit some workers, it is not feasible for many , including workers in key industries such as child care and health care , which already face widespread staff shortages. Some workers would rather work more and earn more. And some skeptics believe that employees’ productivity would eventually decrease if the four-day workweek was made permanent.

Proponents of the policy emphasize that there is no one-size-fits-all and that the benefits of a shorter workweek could reverberate throughout society, lowering health-care costs and reducing emissions from daily commutes. Their ideas are becoming more mainstream . Several large-scale trials of shorter workweeks are underway globally. In 2021, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours and mandate overtime pay for work done beyond that limit.

There is precedent for a large-scale change in the standard workweek: As The Washington Post has previously noted , before the Great Depression, it wasn’t uncommon for employees in the United States to work six-day weeks. The 40-hour workweek was first codified into U.S. law in 1938. The argument put forward by groups such as 4 Day Week Global is that “we’re overdue for an update.”

Rachel Pannett contributed to this report.

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4 day work week: What we know already from scientific research

Whats Inside?

What countries have a 4-day work week, is working 4 days a week good, shake shack is experimenting with a 4-day workweek, basecamp allows employees to work four days per week during the summer, uniqlo ran a trial that allowed employees to work 40 hours over 4 days instead of 5, perpetual guardian adopted the 4-day work week long-term after a successful trial, wildbit implemented a four-day workweek in 2017 and has been iterating on the approach since, is working 4 days a week bad.

Breaking away from work has never been more difficult, thanks to the rise of popular work chat programs and easy access to business email via our cell phones at any time. Many businesses, however, have been experimenting with a four-day workweek.

It appears that employee burnout is on the rise. Gallup found that 23 percent of workers said they were burned out at work "often or very often," while another 44 percent said they were burned out "sometimes" in a study of 75,000 employees released in June of last year. In a 2017 research of 614 human resource leaders done by Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace , nearly half of those polled stated burnout is responsible for up to half of their annual worker turnover.

​ While it is important for large companies to do this research, it is also important for smaller companies. Even small businesses can have a significant impact on employee burnout. To analyze different factors by your own specialists or third-party companies such as  A Research Guide , businesses of all sizes can improve employee productivity, reduce turnover, and create a more positive work environment. ​

Now, it appears that an increasing number of businesses are attempting to offset this trend by trying to enhance work-life balance, most notably by trying to implement a four-day workweek. While the four-day workweek is still uncommon, it does appear to be gaining favor.

In an April 2019 poll performed by the Society for Human Resource Management , 15% of the 60,000 US employers claimed they provide a 4-day workweek of 32 hours or less. This is an increase from 13% in 2017 and 12% in 2018. Furthermore, according to the study, firms that implemented the reduced workweek did not experience a loss in production or revenue.

Microsoft recently made headlines when it released the findings of a trial it conducted at a Japanese subsidiary, during which it shuttered its offices every Friday in August. The company discovered that doing so resulted in a 40% increase in productivity.

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The four-day workweek received a notable boost recently when Spain announced a pilot project for employers interested in a trial run of the concept. 

Researchers in Iceland discovered that a four-day workweek enhanced workers' well-being and productivity without reducing their income. Employees in Iceland started working 4 days a week. It didn't hurt productivity, researchers say.

According to a study published by Autonomy, a progressive think tank located in the United Kingdom, researchers tracked 2,500 employees who decreased their workweek to 35 to 36 hours for four years. "Worker wellbeing considerably increased across a range of indices, from perceived stress and burnout to health and work-life balance," the researchers discovered.

At the same time, most workplaces' productivity stayed constant or improved, according to the report. Hospitals, offices, playschools, and social service offices were the venues where participants worked.

In Iceland, most employees work 40 hours per week on average, and working more than 13 hours per day is forbidden. When the trial began, staff worked 40-hour weeks, later reduced to 35 to 36 hours. Participants indicated that working fewer hours allowed them to spend more time exercising and socializing, which helped them perform better at work.

The trial reflected the working population's wishes.

"By the time this report is published in June 2021, 86 percent of Icelands working population will have been placed on contracts that have either shifted them to reduced working hours or allow them the right to do so in the future," according to the study. "As a result, these trials are an outstanding success story of working time reduction, which will pique the curiosity of campaigners and employees all over the world."

From Shake Shack to Uniqlo, some other notable companies have attempted converting to a four-day workweek.

Related:  Companies With a 4-Day Workweek

Since March 2019, the popular burger business has been experimenting with a four-day workweek at several of its Las Vegas stores, with around one-third of the company's outlets currently following suit. Although the four-day workweek is still in its early stages, CEO Randy Garutti stated that the results so far are good on the company's most recent earnings call.

"We're paying attention to our managers, trying to figure out what their lifestyles are like and what they desire," he said. "People are saying, Wow, this is very strong." According to Garutti, the four-day workweek has saved some employees from having to pay for childcare on the fifth day, and it has also prompted others to apply for the position.

During the summer, the team at Basecamp, a project management software startup, works four days a week for 32 hours. Although new employees may be required to undergo a training period, the policy is from May 1 to August 31, 2020.

According to Chase Clemons, Basecamps customer service team lead, the 32-hour workweek allows employees to focus on the most critical things in their jobs. "We have to prioritize what we work on since we only have 32 hours," Clemons told the site. "It's not about working quicker, but about working smarter," says the author.

Uniqlos' parent company, Fast Retailing, stated in 2015 that one-fifth of its employees would be allowed to work a four-day workweek. However, workers must still work 40 hours per week.

Fast Retailing gave the benefit to full-time shop employees to deter employees from transitioning to part-time work to attain a better work-life balance, according to Bloomberg at the time.

Andrew Barnes, the founder of Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand-based estate planning firm, maybe the most outspoken backer of the 4-day work week yet. In March 2018, his company conducted an experiment where all 240 of its employees in New Zealand were given one paid day off per week. Employees worked 30-hour weeks but were paid the same and had the same amount of work to complete.

The organization discovered that team engagement had grown considerably following the trial, while work-life balance and stress had decreased. Since November, the corporation has started applying the policy on a long-term opt-in basis. Since then, Barnes has been a strong proponent of the four-day workweek, even founding a foundation to support the concept.

Software Company Wildbit also ran a trial in 2017 that involved taking Fridays off.

In 2017, cofounder and CEO Natalie Nagele said, "We're pushing ourselves that by limiting our time, will do more focused and essential work than when we had 40 hours to get it all done."

Since then, the corporation has tweaked the format to accommodate busier times of the year. According to Fast Company, it finally switched to giving some support team members Mondays off instead of Fridays, and it has discussed considering shorter workdays instead of entire days off.

Nagele said the company launched more features in its first year of implementing the four-day workweek compared to the previous year. Employees were also able to avoid distractions and focus on important tasks thanks to the technology.

Treehouse CEO Ryan Carson found that the 4-day work week didn't pan out as planned

Not all trial runs of the four-day workweek have proven successful.

In 2015, Treehouse, a firm that provides virtual seminars for learning to code, experimented with a four-day workweek. However, according to firm CEO Ryan Carson, the policy was scrapped in 2016. Carson remarked, "It generated this lack of work ethic in me that was damaging to the business and our mission." "It was a horrible situation."

Read More:  The 4-day work week: Everything you need to know

The Association for Sustainable Democracy  and Autonomy conducted its research from 2015 to 2019 in two large-scale trials that monitored 2,500 workers. Researchers noted that workers transitioned from stress and burnout to a healthier "work-life balance," according to the study.

Nyasha D Ziwewe is a Software Developer at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950 or email: [email protected] or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

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• Grand Rapids/Muskegon
• Saginaw/Bay City
• All Michigan

Want a 4-day work week? Nearly one-third of US companies are exploring the option

• Updated: Apr. 13, 2024, 11:12 a.m. |
• Published: Apr. 12, 2024, 12:42 p.m.

Nearly a third of large U.S. companies are considering a four-day work week. (MLive file photo) The Flint Journal

• Matt Durr | [email protected]

Many large U.S. companies are exploring the idea of dropping down from a five-day work week to a four-day week as employees look for a better balance between their work and personal lives. According to CNN, a survey conducted by KPMG found that 30% of large companies are adapting to the tight labor market by considering a four or four-and-a-half day work week.

In an interview with CNN, KPMG U.S. chair and CEO Paul Knopp said that while the shift is being explored by several companies, a true change isn’t likely anytime soon.

“My guess is a widespread four-day workweek could be years away – if ever,” Knopp said. “You’ll see companies quietly experimenting with it, but I don’t personally foresee widespread adoption in the next couple of years.”

A Gallup poll released in November found that 77% of those surveyed said the move to a four-day week would have a positive impact on their wellbeing, with 46% of them saying the shift would be “extremely positive” for them.

One development that could push the four-day option forward is the rise of AI technology. The KPMG survey also found that 61% of CEOs surveyed said their company is using AI to handle mundane tasks in order to relieve stress and manage their workload.

“It’s possible that generative AI might make the four-day workweek more realistic,” Knopp said.

The KPMG surveyed 100 CEOs between Feb. 21 and March 14 about several different topics, including the four-day work week. The study can be found here .

Stories by Matt Durr

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• FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

More than 4 in 5 large companies still offer flexible work model

• Remote Working
• Firm Practice Management

Headlines can leave the impression that large companies are behind the times when it comes to offering corporate employees work location flexibility, but recent research paints a different picture.

Eighty-two percent of large U.S. companies in the latest Flex Index by Scoop offered some work location flexibility.

For comparison, the Flex Index for the fourth quarter of 2023 across all company sizes found that 62% offered some work location flexibility.

The new report canvassed more than 2,200 "enterprise" companies — U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees. According to the report, while enterprises make up less than 0.2% of all U.S. companies, they account for more than 10% of jobs nationwide. The 2,200-plus enterprise companies featured in the report employ more than 50 million people around the world.

Enterprises often are viewed as pacesetters across business and industry, so developing trends among them are worth noting for all companies.

• Looking at the types of work flexibility being offered by enterprises, 61% featured a structured hybrid model, while 21% offered employees full flexibility (20% employees' choice and 1% fully remote and without the option of working in an office). The other 18% required corporate employees to work in the office at all times — the widely accepted norm before the pandemic.
• Further breaking down the numbers, 46% of all enterprises included in the report structured their hybrid work model around requiring a minimum number of days in the office. On average, they required 2.5 days in the office (35% required three days; 19% required two days). The Flex Report by Scoop estimated that an average employee, facing five commutes instead of 10 in a typical week, would avoid 111 commute hours and drive 5,000 fewer miles per year.
• While 21% of enterprise companies across all industries offered a fully flexible work model, the rate for the financial services industry checked in at 29%, making it the fourth most flexible industry in the report (tech companies led the way at 49%).
• Among enterprise companies that designated specific days of the week for in-office attendance (just 8% of all companies in the report did), 75% required Tuesday, followed closely in popularity by Wednesday and Thursday. Just 24% required Monday attendance, and just 8% required Friday.
• While just 8% of companies with more than 25,000 employees required employees to work in the office at all times, 23% of companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees did.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at [email protected] .

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