4 day work week research

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

• Published: 13 April 2023
• Volume 74 , pages 1791–1807, ( 2024 )

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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 74 , 1791–1807 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-023-00347-3

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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

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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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What Leaders Need to Know Before Trying a 4-Day Work Week

• Emma Russell,
• Caroline Murphy,

Without adjusting workloads, a schedule change can make burnout worse.

While there is no easy way to address concerns about how (and how much) we work, research tells us that no matter what we do, taking a holistic, long-term focus on the well-being of the workforce is the best path to both happiness and prosperity. Maybe the answer is a four-day workweek. Or maybe it’s something else. But we must start with an honest appraisal of how productivity and time trade-offs impact the well-being of workers. Before trying a four-day workweek, employers need to be aware of two important factors. First, a reduction in hours must also be accompanied by a revision of or even reduction in workload. Second, time at work could become even more intense and stressful for workers, even if there are productivity benefits to be had.

Despite the gains workers have made through the Covid pandemic in increasing flexibility in where they work, bigger workloads have meant that there is little slack in the system for people to take time out and recover. The effects are obvious. In 2020, 62% of people reported that they had experienced burnout “often” or “extremely often” in the previous three months, and in 2021, 67% of workers reported that stress and burnout had increased since the pandemic. Perhaps it is no surprise then that initiatives such as the four-day workweek , remote and hybrid working , unlimited paid time off , and right-to-disconnect have been gaining in popularity in an attempt to tackle these high-workload, always-on cultures.

• ER Emma Russell is a Chartered and Registered Occupational Psychologist, Co-Lead of the Data Observatory and Mid-Early Career Research stream at the ESRC-funded Digit Centre, and a Senior Lecturer in Occupational and Organisational Psychology at the University of Sussex.
• CM Caroline Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, and Director of the MSc in HRM at the Department of Work and Employment Studies at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick.
• ET Esme Terry is a is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), Leeds University Business School. Her role is funded by the ESRC-funded Digit Centre.

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These companies tried a 4-day workweek. More than a year in, they still love it

A U.K. four-day workweek pilot has shown lasting benefits more than one year later. Dragon Claws hide caption

A U.K. four-day workweek pilot has shown lasting benefits more than one year later.

The four-day workweek is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Companies that have tried it are reporting happier workers, lower turnover and greater efficiency. Now, there's evidence that those effects are long lasting.

The latest data come from a trial in the U.K. In 2022, 61 companies moved their employees to a four-day workweek with no reduction in pay.

They began it as a six-month experiment. But today, 54 of the companies still have the policy. Just over half have declared it permanent, according to researchers with the think tank Autonomy, who organized the trial along with the groups 4-Day Week Campaign and 4 Day Week Global.

Follow-up surveys help to explain the four-day workweek's success.

A manufacturer tried the 4-day workweek for 5 days' pay and won't go back

Improvements in physical and mental health, work-life balance, and general life satisfaction, as well as reductions in burnout, have been maintained over the past year, says sociologist Juliet Schor of Boston College, who's part of the research team. Workers report higher job satisfaction now than before the trial began.

"The results are really stable. It's not a novelty effect," she says. "People are feeling really on top of their work with this new model."

Similarly positive results are emerging from other four-day workweek trials, including in the U.S., Schor says.

"Doesn't happen by magic"

At a recent webinar, participating companies shared their experiences and tips for success.

"It absolutely doesn't happen by magic," says Nicci Russell, CEO of the London-based water conservancy non-profit Waterwise. "You can't just drop a day and carry on as usual, because how stressful would that be?"

Russell says after some initial teething problems, they managed to find efficiencies that allow all 10 employees to take Fridays off. They keep all meetings to 30 minutes and make sure those meetings start on time. They block off focus time on their calendars — sometimes even declaring Monk Mode Mondays. They're more mindful of the emails they send and of the time they spend going through their inboxes.

TED Radio Hour

Less is more: how a 4-day workweek could make you and your company more productive.

"I only do my emails now at certain times of the day. I'm not drawn into them all day, every day," she says.

At the end of the pilot, the staff at Waterwise were unanimous in their desire to continue the four-day week. A majority said they wouldn't consider a five-day-a-week job again unless presented with a significant pay raise.

"It's brilliant for retention, which is super important in a teeny organization like ours," says Russell.

No one-size-fits-all

One important finding, researchers say, is that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe when it comes to the four-day workweek.

At Merthyr Valleys Homes in South Wales, giving everyone Fridays off wouldn't have worked, says Ruth Llewellyn, who led the pilot at the housing cooperative.

With 240 employees working in roles from customer service to home repairs and maintenance, they decided to keep their operations running from Monday through Friday.

"For us, the thought of dropping repair service for our tenants one day a week meant that we wouldn't be providing the same service," Llewellyn says.

Instead, employees work a variety of schedules depending on individual and team needs. Some have a set day off every week, while others are on a rolling schedule. Some employees work two half-days, and some still work five days a week but shorter hours, allowing them to drop off and pick up their children from school.

The teams found time savings in different places. Some of the trades staff found they could reduce travel time to and from the building supplier with better planning around which materials they needed. Customer-facing teams found they could address smaller issues quickly over the phone.

Iceland Cut Its Workweek And Found Greater Happiness And No Loss In Productivity

Employees are more motivated, employee performance has held consistent, and absences for illnesses have fallen, Llewellyn says.

Yet the company is not committing to the four-day workweek forever — at least, not yet. Hoping for still more data, it extended the pilot and will re-evaluate the results later this spring.

"We're really hopeful at that point that we can make it permanent," says Llewellyn.

Why companies fail

Of the 61 U.K. companies that joined the 2022 pilot, only a few have discontinued the four-day workweek.

At one small consultancy, although the staff reported improved morale and the company reported a boost in efficiency, there were problems managing client and stakeholder expectations, according to feedback collected after the pilot.

Researchers suggest that better external communications and more flexibility in adapting the policy to challenging conditions might have made a difference.

"There is a suggestion that the organisation did not give the policy enough of a chance, and indications of a change of heart on the issue from management," the researchers wrote.

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• 4 Day Week Global
• four day workweek

Is the Four-Day Workweek the Next Frontier? Questrom’s Constance Hadley Weighs the Pros and Cons

Questrom’s constance hadley weighs the pros and cons of working fewer days with the same productivity levels.

From US companies to European nations, employers are test-driving the idea of giving workers a four-day workweek. Photo by ZSun Fu /Unsplash

Is the Four-Day Workweek the Next Frontier?

Rich barlow.

When Henry Ford gave his workers a five-day week in 1926, having Saturdays off was seen as a revolutionary shift to the typical workweek. The United States officially codified the five-day week for all workers in 1932. Now the United Kingdom has launched the largest test of its kind to see if five days is too long and four days makes more sense.

For the next six months, 70 UK companies spanning industries will put 3,300-plus workers on a Monday through Thursday schedule, maintaining current pay levels in exchange for current productivity levels. Activists, a think tank, and universities are overseeing the experiment, and participants include food and beverage companies, a robotics software developer, financial and consulting firms, building and construction recruitment companies, and digital marketing places.

In the United States, many employees reported burnout from working longer hours from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, some companies and nonprofits have moved to a four-day workweek. The UK test is one of several in Europe, where the Spanish and Scottish governments will pilot their own four-day workweeks later this year. 

Almost 100 years after Ford’s experiment, should the four-day workweek become the next evolution of working time? We asked Constance Hadley , a Questrom School of Business lecturer in management and organizations. Hadley researches and writes about workplace burnout and loneliness , the pros– and cons– of teamwork , excessive meetings , and the growing interest in “third spaces”: working neither from office nor home, but from cafés, friends’ homes, and offsite coworking places. 

with Constance Hadley

Bu today: do you think the four-day workweek is a good idea, either wherever possible or in tandem with some people continuing the traditional, five-day pattern.

Hadley: I think the idea is interesting—but the parameters need to be made clear. Some key issues to define and consider are (a) how much time it takes to achieve productivity, and whether there are any time savings by compressing the workweek, and (b) how much work is dependent upon collaborative work that requires coordinating schedules across individuals on one less day a week. I worry a lot about creating even longer, more hectic days, with spillover effects on the three days off, like you spend the first half of that fifth day just recuperating and cleaning up your inbox. There will also be knock-on effects on the rest of the team if everyone is just shifting their meeting times to one less day a week, or worse, if people are taking different days off from each other. It could mean longer stretches of meetings on those four days, which are also a cause of burnout and dissatisfaction.

BU Today: What are other pros and cons?

Hadley: It may hurt the organization’s accomplishment of its goals. For example, Poll Everywhere [an online service for classroom and audience response that’s going to four days this summer] sent an email to customers notifying them of their four-day workweek experiment this summer in case there were impacts on customer service. On the plus side, people might really welcome having only four days of intense work obligations a week, plus three days free to use as they choose. Going from the standard two days off to three days—statistically, that’s a 50 percent increase! They might travel more, save more on commuting and parking, and get more time with friends and family. So I get the appeal. I just hope it is executed in a way where the benefits can be fully realized and people’s, teams’, and the organization’s viability do not suffer.

I get the appeal. I just hope it is executed in a way where the benefits can be fully realized. Constance Hadley

BU Today: The UK test commits employers to continue 100 percent pay for four days in exchange for maintaining 100 percent productivity. Will many employers find that agreeable? And presumably, wouldn’t certain industries—line-work production, for example—be unable to get the same productivity out of workers over just four days?

Hard to say if many employers will find that structure agreeable. Everyone is watching these kinds of experiments and learning. Plus, it depends on how the economy and workforce evolve and whether these become new expectations from the vast majority of the workforce—as being able to work at least part-time remotely has become for most knowledge workers. In other words, if the UK experiment seems successful from a productivity standpoint—and if employees still have a lot of power in the marketplace and decide this is something they want—you could see more patterns like this elsewhere. Certain frontline industries, like oil drilling and nursing, already have that kind of nontraditional workweek schedule. So this is certainly a possibility in more than just knowledge work industries. I think the bigger challenge for frontline workers is less whether they can work four days a week and more about whether they can work remotely at all . We are starting to see some glimmers of how that might be possible .

BU Today: How did the pandemic spur experiments like this?

The pandemic really shook up our assumptions about how work needs to be done and also triggered a recognition that for many people, their well-being at work was not high before the pandemic. Now, people—and employers, I am glad to say—are prioritizing employee well-being more than ever.

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Pros and Cons of the Four-Day Workweek

Senior Writer

Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and  Bostonia  magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former  Boston Globe  religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 8 comments on Pros and Cons of the Four-Day Workweek

Why is working such a bad thing that we need to do less of it? I think personal productivity and self-worth are inseparably linked. If you ask most people, “Who are you?” they will answer with what they do. People who are proud of doing less — or doing nothing — can only take pride in their own empty shell (such ‘pride’ as it would be).

I’d like to know more about the mental health effects of working remotely, i.e., working at home. Really, the person working at home has no escape from an unchanging environment. Work becomes home; home becomes work — there is no refuge from either. The at-home worker is more of a slave than if they went to a factory, store, or office and punched a time-clock, because they never punch out. Work is interrupted by family matters, and family matters are interrupted by work. One is never free from either, and neither gets the full attention it deserves. I think the ancient Hebrews had it right: work hard six days a week and then take one day off and be serious about it.

I am also beginning to sense a rising alienation from the lack of personal interaction. We’ve created a realm of artificiality through zoom, facebook, twitter, and so on. We are not genuinely relating to each other, hence the growing hostility in our society. Reduced work-week and remote working are major contributing factors.

I believe you may be coming from a position of truly enjoying the work you do. My work is personally fulfilling as well, but that cannot be said for everyone (for a variety of reasons) and so- the restorative power of more time to live life is increasingly beneficial to those who don’t wake up excited to get to a full filling job. The ability to spend more time with family, friends, and to pursue personal passions most certainly would improve a person’s overall well-being. You and I must just be lucky enough to have our personal passion be linked to our jobs and service to our colleagues.

The lack of separation between work and life (due to working in home offices) is not new for some- but was entirely new for many- like myself. Like all things, it takes time to adapt to new circumstances. I initially felt constantly exhausted – constantly working – with no line between work and life- but now I feel a complete and natural separation when I leave the room with my work materials (even though it is just 5 feet from my kitchen.) I am overwhelmingly grateful to have the ability to work from my home, as it frees up commute time and expenses, allows for me to see more of my family, and take care of life logistics more easily. Simple tasks like… getting through my laundry, meeting the kids at the bus stop, being home for parents who are no longer fully independent. These things add up quickly to an improved sense of self and stability. I would be extremely interested in testing out a condensed work schedule as well. Though, that might not translate to my particular field… I would like to test it out to see.

There are are far more benefits than drawbacks for me. This may not be true for everyone but, finding the balance for our own lives and careers will take some time and trial. For so many- flexible work hours and locations are a huge relief to everyday struggles. Personally, I do not want to see us slip back into the old ways of doing things. That would be a shame.

But why must we BE our employment? I am a statistician, but I do that because I’m good at it, I enjoy it, and it brings money. But I don’t want to be JUST a statistician: I am a father, a husband, a painter, a traveler, a photographer, a son, a brother, a pet parent – and sometimes work does not allow me to be all these other things I want to be! And that is not even including the commute! Why should I put work ahead of all these other things I also am?

Regarding your question about the effects of mental health in a work-from-home environment, I recognize this is my personal experience, but I’m doing great! My productivity has risen through the roof, and most importantly, my satisfaction as well. Family matters do not interrupt my work, and vice versa. The lack of commute means I get to have breakfast with my partner and kids at 7 am. I start work promptly at 7:30 am and I log off by 3:30 pm. At that time I have plenty of time for mundane tasks such as laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I come to the office once a week, and between that and Zoom meetings, I get plenty of personal interaction with my coworkers. My coworkers are my coworkers, not my friends, their purpose is not to fill in the needs for company, but rather to get tasks done and move projects along. Working from home has allowed me to also be able to focus more on other personally satisfying activities, such as exercise, painting, and traveling – which does provide the opportunity for me to interact with people with common interests and whose company is more satisfying on a personal level than my coworkers’. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with my coworkers, but I like keeping my personal life and my work life separate.

Personal productivity does not always mean paid employment; and as someone else mentioned, we are defined in so many ways, not just by our paying jobs or careers. Stepping off of the hamster wheel can allow for productivity in new and exciting ways!

“The at-home worker is more of a slave.”

Please do not equate working from home to slavery. If its not for you, then so be it. There is no reason to throw shade onto people who can manage work and home life while being MORE productive in the home office.

I for one appreciate that most of us are offered a choice of working form home. I enjoy not having to take an extra 2 hours every day to come into campus, that extra two hours is spent with my family all while being just as productive (if not more) at home. I’m also of the thought that we could do a little more for people that are required to be in office to lessen the burden of commutes and travel expenses.

“work hard six days a week and then take one day off and be serious about it.”

“We are not genuinely relating to each other, hence the growing hostility in our society.”

Yeah, that’s all zooms fault, not rising inequality and injustices all while working ourselves to the bone. People are can and should still relate to their friends and family just fine.

I’m more convinced that people work becoming their identity is really the issue behind most of our woes. Work is just a part of who you are, it shouldn’t even be close to all consuming.

Prior to the pandemic, I spent 3-4 hours a day sitting in traffic to get to a job that I can easily do from my desk at home. I now spend those lost hours with my kids. You may be assuming that everyone has the same personality, experiences, and motivations that you do. I work just as hard as I did pre-pandemic and I love what I do for a living. But, I don’t define myself by my job. I’m much more than that. My mental health has vastly improved now that I work remotely a few days per week. Just ask my wife and kids.

I completely understand that some people are extroverts, workaholics, or define themselves by what they get paid to do. You are obviously one of those people, and that’s great. You should do something that requires you to work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. It sounds like that would make you happy. It would be soul-crushing for me. I would never see my family, and when I did, I would be a burned-out crank. I know this because I was. Spending 15-20 hours per week surrounded by millions of other angry and stressed out drivers will do that to anyone. Endless in-person meetings that are unnessessary and unproductive does the same thing. Most of the meetings I was in pre-pandemic were spent chatting about nothing of any particular importance for 30+ minutes, with the final 10-15 minutes being used for the stated purpose. If we booked an hour of time, we were going to be there for an hour whether we needed it or not. My meetings now are more intentional and more productive.

I’m an introvert. I enjoy being home. I can concentrate better when I don’t have to interact with people physically all day. I like being able to see trees out my home office window while I work, instead of brick walls and air conditioning ducts. It’s fascinating how humans can have a different experience of the same environment. You clearly define yourself by what you produce in the workplace. I definitely do not. My self-worth is not linked to what I produce. My life after work hours is not an empty shell. Far from it. But, I appreciate that working is how you find value in living. You should definitely work a lot. For sure. But those of us who find value in other things should not be forced to live your experience.

As for hostility in our society, I think that might be a completely different debate and involves many more variables than whether I’m working remotely or not.

I like all the comments above. You make some good points. The two that resonate most with me are about enjoying life outside of work and avoiding the time and stress involved in commuting.

One summer in college I worked on a loading dock in Boston. The hours were long and the pay was great. I was getting overtime after 7hrs/day & 35hrs/week — and I was working 55 hours. In today’s money that would be circa $1300/week. Not bad money for a college kid. I also commuted an hour each way and barely had time for a set of tennis before dark.

The money paid for my college, but I was miserable. However, there are people who made a career of what I did that summer. When I see people driving their RVs or pulling their ATVs up to NH or Maine, I realize they earn their vacation times and experiences.

With many jobs you just can’t fit five days work in a four day bag.

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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.

More from TIME

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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Four-day work week trials have been labelled a 'resounding success'. But four big questions need answers

The Conversation

Topic: Work

Hopes of the four-day week becoming reality have been buoyed by glowing reports about the success of four-day week trials ( Pexels:  Tatiana Syrikova )

A little more than a century ago, most people in industrialised countries worked 60 hours a week — six 10-hour days. A 40-hour work week of five eight-hour days became the norm, along with increased paid holidays, in the 1950s.

These changes were made possible by massive increases in productivity and hard-fought struggles by workers with bosses for a fair share of the expanding economic pie.

In the 1960s and '70s it was expected that this pattern would continue. It was even anticipated that, by the year 2000, there would be a " leisure society ". Instead, the trend towards reduced working hours ground to a halt.

But now there are suggestions we are on the cusp of another great leap forward — a 32-hour four-day week for the same pay as working five days. This is sometimes referred to as the "100-80-100" model. You will continue to be paid 100 per cent of your wages in return for working 80 per cent of the hours but maintaining 100 per cent production.

Employees reported less stress, burnout, fatigue and work-family conflict during four-day work week trials. ( Supplied: Unsplash )

In Spain and Scotland, political parties have won elections with the promise of trialling a four-day week, although a similar move in the 2019 UK general election was unsuccessful. In Australia, a Senate committee inquiry  has recommended  a national trial of the four-day week .

Hopes of the four-day week becoming reality have been buoyed by glowing reports about the success of four-day week trials, in which employers have reported cutting hours but maintaining productivity.

However, impressive as the trial results may appear, it's still not clear whether the model would work across the economy.

An employer-led movement

Unlike previous campaigns for a shorter work week, the four-day work week movement is being led by employers in a few, mainly English-speaking, countries. Notable is Andrew Barnes, owner of a New Zealand financial services company, who founded the 4-Day Week Global  organisation.

It has coordinated a program of four-day week trials in six countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States). Almost 100 companies and more than 3,000 employees have been involved. (A highly publicised  trial in Iceland  was not coordinated by it.)

These trials are being monitored by an "international collaboration" of research teams at three universities: Boston College, Cambridge University and University College Dublin. The Boston College team is led by work-time/leisure-time guru Juliet Schor, author of the 1991 bestseller,  The Overworked American .

A number of reports have been published, including  one "global" report  covering all six countries and separate reports for  the UK  and  Ireland . A report on the Australian trial is promised for April.

Overall, these reports have declared the trials a "resounding success" — both for employers and employees.

Employees, unsurprisingly, were overwhelmingly positive. They reported less stress, burnout, fatigue and work-family conflict, and better physical and mental health.

More significant were the employers' responses. They have generally reported improved employee morale and no loss of revenue. Nearly all have committed to, or are considering, continuing with the four-day-week model.

Most of the employees involved in trials were office workers.  ( Pexels: ThisIsEngineering )

Four big questions

The trials do not, however, answer all the questions about the viability of the four-day week. The four main ones are as follows.

• Are the research results reliable? Employers and employees were surveyed at the start, halfway through and at the end of the six-month trials. But only about half of the employees and two-thirds of employers completed the vital final round. So there's some uncertainty about their representativeness.
• Did the participating firms demonstrate the key productivity proposition: an increase of almost 20 per cent in output per employee per hour worked? The firms involved were not asked to provide "output" data, just revenue. This may be a reasonable substitute. But it may also have been affected by price movements (inflation was on the march in 2022).
• For those firms that achieved the claimed productivity increase, how did it come about? And is it sustainable? Proponents of the four-day week argue that employees are more productive because they work in a more concentrated way, ignoring distractions. A much longer period than six months will be needed to establish whether this more intense work pattern is sustainable.
• Is the four-day model likely to be applicable across the whole economy? This is the key question, the answer to which will only emerge over time. The organisations involved in the trials were self-selected and unrepresentative of the economy as a whole.

They employed mostly office-based workers. Almost four-fifths were in managerial, professional, IT and clerical occupations. Organisations in other sectors, with different occupational profiles, may find increased productivity through more intensive working difficult to emulate.

Take manufacturing: only three firms from this sector were included in the large UK trial. Since manufacturing has been subject to efficiency studies and labour-saving investment for a century or more, an overall 20 per cent "efficiency gain" to be had across the board seems unlikely.

Then there are sectors that provide face-to-face services to the public, often seven days a week. They cannot close for a day, and their work intensity is often governed by health and safety concerns. Reduced hours are unlikely to be covered by individual productivity increases. To maintain operating hours, either staff will have to work overtime or more staff would need to be employed.

As for the public sector, in Australia and other countries "efficiency savings" involving budget cuts of about 2 per cent a year have been common for decades. Any "slack" is likely to have been already squeezed out of the system. Again, reducing standard hours would result in the need to pay overtime rates or recruit extra staff, at extra cost.

So what now?

This does not mean the four-day week could not spread through the economy.

One scenario is that it could spread in those workplaces and sectors where productivity gains are achievable.

The productivity gains achieved in office environments may harder to replicate in other settings such as manufacturing. ( Pexels: Kateryna Babaieva )

Those employers and sectors not offering reduced hours would find it harder to recruit staff. They would need to reduce hours, perhaps by stages, to compete. In the absence of productivity gains, they would be forced to absorb the extra costs or pass them on in increased prices.

The pace at which such change takes place would depend — as it always has — on the level of economic growth, productivity trends and labour market conditions.

But it is unlikely to happen overnight. And, as always, it will be accompanied by many employers and their representatives claiming the sky is about to fall in.

Anthony Veal is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology of Sydney's Business School. This piece first appeared on The Conversation .

Economics of a four-day working week: research shows it can save businesses money

Lecturer in Finance, ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading

Disclosure statement

Miriam Marra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Reading provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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The idea of a four-day working week is gaining momentum. The Labour Party has included it in its 2019 electoral manifesto, and Microsoft Japan announced positive results from a trial run earlier in 2019. Some fear it will “wreck” the economy .

But, colleagues and I have found in our research that the benefits of a four-day working week, without loss of pay, can outweigh the cons for both businesses and staff. We surveyed a number of businesses that have already adopted the four-day working week and found that they were making savings of almost £92 billion (around 2% of total turnover) each year.

Just over half (51%) of the respondents thought that the four-day working week enabled them to save costs. Of those, 62% say their staff take fewer days off sick, 63% say they produce better quality work, and 64% are more productive. Our research also outlines that the businesses who haven’t yet implemented a four-day week could save around £12 billion by moving to one. If we add this to the savings made by businesses that already implement a four-day week, we’d get a total combined saving of roughly £104 billion a year.

It is interesting to note that our positive results square with the evidence provided by Microsoft Japan. In its trial in August 2019, 2,300 employees were given a paid Friday off each week. The company reported an impressive 40% increase in the productivity of employees in the month (measured against August 2018). But other measures were also adopted to improve productivity, for example a significant reduction in the time and number of meetings and encouragement to use online platforms for collaboration.

On their day off, workers were encouraged to volunteer, learn and train. Or simply rest to improve their productivity and creativity. After five consecutive Fridays off the company reported a sales rise by nearly 40%, the company’s electricity consumption dropped by 23% and there was a 59% reduction in the printing of paper pages. This experiment suggests the arrangement might be applicable to larger corporations and in one of the countries most affected by a workaholic culture .

Other companies have implemented the four-day working week and also reported an increment in staff productivity. One example is Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand estate management firm that adopted the policy in November 2018. The company ran a pre and post-trial survey across employees and found that productivity was unharmed by the shortened work week, while staff work-life balance had improved by 24%, sense of empowerment by 20%, leadership and commitment levels respectively by 22% and 20%, and stimulation by 22% .

In our research we have also highlighted that the benefits of this arrangement aren’t just for businesses and the world of work. An extra day off could have a knock-on effect for the wider society. We found 54% of employees said they would spend their day shopping, meaning a potential boost for the high street, 43% would go to the cinema or theatre and 39% would eat out at restaurants.

We also see potential environmental benefits to a shorter working week. In addition to the reduction of energy and paper use experienced by Microsoft Japan, we think that fewer journeys to and from work provides a potentially large green dividend with less fuel consumption and a reduction in pollution .

Challenges remain

The hottest question now is: can this work arrangement be easily translated into a change in legislation such as the one proposed by the Labour Party? In its annual conference the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said that if the party wins the election, it will reduce the average working week to 32 hours within ten years .

One of the main challenges outlined by our research is that the four-day working week can be difficult to implement in service industries where customer demands need to be met, and particularly for smaller businesses. It would also imply a significant change in public services like teaching and nursing. But Labour did recognise that different sectors will need to respond in different ways.

Meanwhile, research by the Centre for Policy Studies , a centre-right think tank, also found that reducing the hours of public sector employees would mean at best a £17 billion cost for the Treasury and at worst a possible £45 billion cost, assuming no increase in productivity and a need to expand the workforce in public services.

But the main point is that any legislation change should not just focus on reducing time but also to find ways for employees to enhance their productivity when they are working. Time reduction should be seen as both the conduit and the outcome of increased productivity.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/4-day-work-week-trial-yields-overwhelming-success-in-u-k-researchers-say

4-day work week trial yields overwhelming success in U.K., researchers say

LONDON (AP) — Work less, get more.

A trial of a four-day workweek in Britain, billed as the world’s largest, has found that an overwhelming majority of the 61 companies that participated from June to December will keep going with the shorter hours and that most employees were less stressed and had better work-life balance.

That was all while companies reported revenue largely stayed the same during the trial period last year and even grew compared with the same six months a year earlier, according to findings released this week.

WATCH: The costs and benefits of switching to a 4-day work week

“We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into a realistic policy, with multiple benefits,” said David Frayne, research associate at University of Cambridge, who helped lead the team conducting employee interviews for the trial. “We think there is a lot here that ought to motivate other companies and industries to give it a try.”

The university’s team worked with researchers from Boston College; Autonomy, a research organization focused on the future of work; and the 4 Day Week Global nonprofit community to see how the companies from industries spanning marketing to finance to nonprofits and their 2,900 workers would respond to reduced work hours while pay stayed the same.

Not surprisingly, employees reported benefits, with 71 percent less burned out, 39 percent less stressed and 48 percent more satisfied with their job than before the trial.

Of the workers, 60 percent said it was easier to balance work and responsibilities at home, while 73 percent reported increased satisfaction with their lives. Fatigue was down, people were sleeping more and mental health improved, the findings show.

That’s just what Platten’s fish and chips restaurant in the English seaside town of Wells-Next-The Sea has found, especially in the hospitality industry where people often work seven days a week.

“Everyone is focused, everyone knows what they’re doing, everyone is refreshed,” said Kirsty Wainwright, general manager of the restaurant about a three-hour drive northeast of London. “What it means is that they are coming into work with a better frame of mind and passing that on to obviously the clients and the public that are coming here for their meals. They’re getting a greater service because the team are more engaged.”

WATCH: How a rise in remote employment may impact post-pandemic work life

Starting the trial going into the busy season in June, Platten’s, which is open seven days a week, found the biggest hurdle was finding a model that worked for everyone, Wainwright said.

They constantly communicated with employees to find what worked best, which was having the staff split into two groups, allowing one group to work two days on, and other to have two days off, she said.

The concept lets people work, have a day to do chores like cleaning the house and “then have two days off, seeing your friends, seeing your family, doing some stuff yourself,” Wainwright said. “And that’s what this is all about — is actually just working to live and not living to work.”

For companies that rolled out the shorter work hours — whether it was one less workday a week or longer hours in parts of the year and shorter hours the rest of the time to make an average 32-hour week — revenue wasn’t affected, the findings say.

Revenue grew 1.4 percent over the course of the trial for 23 companies that provided adequate data — weighted for the size of the business — while a separate 24 companies saw revenue climb more than 34 percent from the same six-month period a year earlier.

For Platten’s, “I don’t think we were really measuring it in terms of profitability,” Wainwright said. “That’s not really it for us. We wanted to measure it in productivity. And actually, the productivity has gone through the roof.”

For all those who participated in the trial, there was a drop in the likelihood of employees quitting, down 57 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, as well as those calling out sick, down 65 percent from a year ago, according to the findings.

Of the companies, 92 percent reported they would continue with the four-day workweek, with 30 percent saying it’s a permanent change. That includes Platten’s, which said it’s sticking with the model permanently.

Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder and managing director of 4 Day Week Global, said “resounding success” of the U.K. pilot program mirrors earlier efforts in Ireland and the U.S.

There are, of course, industries that can’t institute shorter hours because they need workers round the clock, such as nurses and first responders. Those workers and others have been walking off the job in the U.K. in recent months demanding better working conditions and pay that keeps pace with the high cost of living.

The pandemic changed the way the world works, with people seeking greater flexibility to improve work-life balance.

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Study: The evidence overwhelmingly says 4-day work weeks are good for everyone

Looking for work-life balance the case for the four-day work week.

Though the argument seems fresh, the idea of the four-day work week has been around for more than a hundred years.

4 day work weeks mean flexibility and an improved work-life balance

4-day work weeks help businesses to recruit and retain top talent, 4-day work weeks equal more productive employees and more efficient businesses, all signs point to yes.

Per Firmspace , the five-day workweek is a cultural norm only because of early 1900s union advocacy that led to Henry Ford reducing the six-day workweek in 1926 (and introducing the U.S. to the weekend). Since that time, further decreases were expected. Per The Conversation , in 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes prognosticated that technological progress and productivity increases would lead to 15-hour work weeks. In 1956, The New York Times quoted then Vice President Richard Nixon stating that the four-day work week was sitting “in the not too distant future.” And yet, in 2022 the idea still seems novel at the least and revolutionary at worst.

The arguments against four-day work weeks are obvious: if employees aren’t coming into work at least 70% of their daily lives, this means that businesses won’t be as efficient, productive, or successful. Or does it?

At the halfway point of a broad, six-month-long British study, research being gathered by 4 Day Week Global reveals a general tenor of positive experiences for organizations willing to alter decades of ingrained work cultures and systems to encourage employees to achieve better work-life balance. Along the way, going against the grain has led to challenges that reveal valuable lessons and actions businesses can take to improve the shift to shorter work weeks.

“While for most organizations the pilot prompts many pleasing discoveries and outcomes — a lot of businesses have more flexibility and nimbleness among their people and teams than leaders often know at the outset — there is friction for others, and this can be based on a variety of factors,” 4 Day Week Global CEO Joe O’Connor said.

As we’ve seen, the idea of four-day work weeks has been around for a long time. As such, there are also a plethora of studies examining its effects on employees and employers. Generally, as has been shown in 4 Day Week’s trial, a four-day work week can not only benefit employees’ physical and mental health , but create a more efficient, productive workplace.

Here’s why a four-day work week could be in all of our futures.

Many people have struggled with their mental health during the pandemic. The isolation and invasion of work while operating from home haven’t helped. A 2021 Bamboo HR survey found a full 79% of remote employees feeling burned out on a monthly basis, and more than 50% burned out every week. The top reasons for this fatigue were:

• Remote work led to an “always-on” culture
• Juggling home and personal responsibilities while connected to jobs
• Bearing extra work responsibilities

The Great Resignation exemplifies the likely permanent evolution in work expectations. People expressed their dissatisfaction at work by leaving in epic droves. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics ‘ Quits Rate ’ has remained at historically high levels for over a year. If businesses want to retain workers, they need to look at what the research is showing them. A Bamboo HR survey of 2,000 American workers that 62% of people prioritize better pay , 43% an improved work-life balance, and 42% more flexibility at work.

While pay is a different story, a four-day work week helps to resolve two out of three of these concerns. An additional day off gives employees time to handle child and family care, run errands, tend to mental health, work out, and take part in communal activities like civic volunteers and pickleball groups . An example from the bottom side of the world shows how one extra day a week can help to ease employee lives.

When Perpetual Guardian , a New Zealand-based estate planning company, switched to a four-day workweek in 2018, Auckland University of Technology was there to measure and collect the data collection. Results showed:

• Better work-life balance. After the company switched to a four-day workweek, the number of employees who felt they were managing both work and personal roles rose from 54 to 78%.
• Lower stress. Ironically, the number of employees who felt stressed at work dropped from 45 to 38% even though they had less time to do the same amount of work.
• Higher satisfaction. Employees reported feeling more satisfied in several aspects of their personal lives. This included a 5% rise in “life in general,” 7% in personal health, 7% community involvement, and 11% leisure time.

As should be anticipated by sharp readers, a four-day work week makes a business more attractive to current and potential employees. Many people are not satisfied when work dominates their lives. A 2022 Qualtrics survey, in fact, found that 92% of employees said they’d welcome a four-day workweek. As consequence, just over 80% reported that a four-day workweek would increase loyalty to their employer and likely help recruit talent.

In a Henley Business School white paper, 63% of UK businesses said that a four-day work week helps their organization attract and retain the right talent. Even better, the switch was helping them to recruit and retain a wider employee diversity of employees.

When the word hits the street about a company adopting a four-day workweek, the response can be overwhelming. Take The Wanderlust Group , a U.S. outdoor tech company, that embraced the change in 2021. Applications to job openings rose an astounding 800%, and its retention rate neared a near-perfect 98%, strong evidence that a four-day workweek is more than just an incentive to bring people on board. The policy also keeps them aboard the ship.

If you’re reading this at work, you’ll quickly notice how much time is spent wasting it than using this precious resource productively. Kronos Incorporated  reported that in a 2018 global survey of nearly 3,000 employees across eight countries, The Workforce Institute of Kronos showed that nearly half (45%) of full-time workers said they could complete their job in less than five hours each day.

The numbers suggest that compressing time increases performance, at least according to the Henley white paper.

• 64% of respondents said that they were more productive.
• 63% said they maintain better quality work.
• 59% reported more time developing skills.
• 51% were able to save on business costs.

Researchers posited that a shorter workweek saved British businesses as much as $115 billion in annual operating costs, equal to about 2% of total revenue.

In its examination of business operations, The Wanderlust Group showed incredible growth and business success since flipping to a four-day workweek. This included 99% annual recurring revenue growth over a year, and 120% more nights booked — year to date.

Just having employees in the office less often had significant ancillary effects at some firms. During the summer of 2019, Microsoft Japan enjoyed working four days a week while earning their normal, five-day paycheck. Not only did Microsoft report a 40% productivity boost as the result, but the company also said it became more efficient. Electricity costs fell by 23% and printed pages fell by nearly 60% as its workers took Fridays off in August.

4 Day Week Global extended some eyebrow-raising numbers in its survey of over 3,300 employees at 70 different companies in the last three months. At this stage in the trial, 88% of respondents declared that the four-day week is working ‘well’ for their business. And 86% of participants said that they would be ‘extremely likely’ and or ‘likely’ to consider retaining the four-day work week policy after the trial period.

“The organizations in the United Kingdom pilot are contributing real-time data and knowledge that are worth their weight in gold,” CEO O’Connor said. “Essentially, they are laying the foundation for the future of work by putting a four-day week into practice, across every size of business and nearly every sector.”

Who knows? Maybe this groundwork will lead to an entirely new workweek structure for businesses everywhere.

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Looking to diversify your portfolio? Traditional wisdom may tell you to invest your money in gold, artwork, antiques, or wine. But, according to a surprising new study, there’s a much more lucrative investment available: LEGOs. While you might think LEGOs for adults are purely for nostalgia, that's not exactly true. Keep reading to learn why you should consider trading in your gold for the colorful bricks of your childhood.

LEGOs are worth more than gold A recent study published by the Research in International Business and Finance journal has put a serious spin on traditional investing advice. Economists at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia found that LEGOs provide a higher return on investment than most other investment alternatives.

It's Britney, and she's headed to the big screen. Variety is reporting that Universal Pictures has landed the rights to The Woman in Me, Britney Spears's memoir, with director John Chu and producer Marc Platt attached to develop. Britney Spears shared the news on her social media, writing that Platt has “always made my favorite movies."

The rights to Britney's memoir were reportedly part of a very high-profile auction, which makes sense given that it sold more than 2.5 million copies and was hailed at the time for its brutal honesty. The memoir chronicles Britney's life from her earliest days in the Mickey Mouse Club to her highly public conservatorship case, which launched an actual movement in her defense.

The enormous success of Deadpool & Wolverine has almost singlehandedly revived the MCU. The movie's box office totals suggest that there is hunger for Deadpool at the very least, which has led many to wonder whether the character could be returning anytime soon, now that he's officially part of the MCU.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine. 

What a 4-day workweek could do to your brain and body

• The average American's work hours are nearly the same as they were fifty years ago. Working such long hours is associated with increased levels of stress and burnout. 

• Moving to a four-day workweek could increase productivity, loyalty, and overall happiness, all while helping the climate.
• More and more people, including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the owner of restaurant chain Shake Shack, seem open to the idea.

In 1930, ten years before Americans would win the fight for the 40-hour workweek, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that Americans would have a 15-hour workweek within the next hundred years. His reasoning: As technology advanced, people would need to work less and less. 

That hasn't happened. The average American's work hours have barely budged for the last 50 years. We work long and we work hard, but we may not be working smart. 

In recent years, the idea of moving to a four-day workweek has started to gain traction. Fans of the concept include restaurants like Shake Shack, labor unions and the UK's Labour party. Even presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is open to it.

Here's how it could benefit you.

A four-day workweek has been associated with increased productivity in over 30 years of scientific research.

The internet is full of success stories about companies that switched to a four-day workweek.

Microsoft announced in August 2019 that switching to a four-day workweek led to a 40% boost in productivity . The company had theorized that freeing an up extra day a week for leisure would leave its employees refreshed and newly productive.

Research backs this up.

As early as 1975, studies concluded that the four-day workweek made employees more efficient. According to a paper released by the International Labour Organization in 2018, "working excessively long hours on a regular basis has been shown to reduce hourly productivity due to greater fatigue, and those workers with long hours and/or heavy workloads report decreasing job satisfaction and motivation."

Another study , which gave people working 40 hours a week and people working 55 hours a week the same cognitive tests, found that the latter group performed far worse. 

In fact, we have a surprising amount of research showing that longer working hours are associated with adverse health.  

"I think that efforts to lengthen the workday is clearly counter-productive for work that requires concentration and encourages quality,"  Dr. Anders Ericsson, a research on expertise, told Vice .

Working 32-hours a week creates a better work-life balance.

When New Zealand trust management company Perpetual Guardian tried out a four-day workweek, it saw employee work-life balance increase 45%. The New York Times also reported that the employees' "actual job performance didn't change when doing it over four days instead of five."

Perpetual Guardian has since made the policy permanent. 

One theory as to why the quality of work didn't deteriorate is that most of our eight-hour workday isn't spent working. One study even showed that only about three hours of the day are spent working. The rest of the time is usually wasted, spent at work because that is the requirement. And all of that time spent at work can foster some serious guilt and resentment . 

A four-day workweek could ease some of the guilt, allowing people to spend more time with their families and friends.

The four-day workweek could make people happier overall.

The requirement to be constantly online has completely changed how and where we work. People can now send work emails from their phones at night and clock in unpaid overtime doing some work-related internet research on the weekends. But being constantly connected  can lead to stress and burnout . 

Burnout is so common that it is now an officially diagnosable condition.  

One way to make sure workers aren't as stressed and burnt out is to ensure they are cared for . A four-day workweek could be the antidote to burnout, giving employees the leisure time they need to create a less stressful, more productive work environment. 

It could also lead to more time affluence —a term thought up by researchers to describe a feeling of being rich in time. In America, where residents work far longer than Europeans, people can be financially affluent but poor when it comes to having enough time to do the things they want. 

Research shows that longer work hours make for less happy people. One study found that happiness was often associated with the amount of leisure time a person had, even when taking increased income into account.

A four-day workweek isn't just good for you, it's good for the climate.

Researchers have found a direct correlation between longer work hours and increased pollution levels.  One study found that if Americans, who work some of the longest hours in the world, were to work the same amount as Europeans, the US would consume 20% less energy.

Another study discovered that with every 1% decline in working hours, there was a corresponding .8% drop in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet another study showed that a four-day workweek or 25% decline in work hours led to a big carbon footprint reduction. 

When Elon Musk tweeted that "nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week," the negative reaction was swift. American perceptions towards work have changed. Maybe its time the American workweek changed with it. 

Microsoft experimented with a 4-day workweek, and productivity jumped by 40%

People have toyed with the idea of a 4-day workweek for over 80 years. Here's how the concept has evolved, from the Great Depression to Microsoft's latest successful experiment.

A time-management expert says there's one important downside to the 4-day workweek, even if it does make you more productive.

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4 Day Work Week - exploring the possibilities and impact of a four-day working week

27 August 2024

An exploration of how reduced work time could impact the physical and mental health of workers as well as the economic and functional impact on organisations.

Dr Pedro Gomes

Professor of Economics, Birkbeck Business School

The last 30 years have seen dramatic changes  in society . T he  t echnology we use,   the speed in which we communicate, the types of jobs that we  do , the length of our lives ,  and  the role s  of women  at work and home have all  shifted.  Yet the working world is  l argely still   organised the same way it h as been  since the  mid  20 th   c entury.  Th e  4 Day Work Week (4DWW)  project  explored  if a change in the structure of the working week could be a more efficien t and sustainable way  of  organising work in the 21 st  century.  It also probe d  whether a shorter working week c ould  be mutually beneficial for workers,  b usiness   and the economy alike.

K ey  research questions  

The aim of this project  wa s to me asure the impact of reduced work time on the physical and mental health of workers, as well as the economic and functional impact on  organisations .   How do companies implement a four-day week? What are the main difficult ies and benefits?    

How  wa s  th e research conducted ?  

The project saw over forty companies in Portugal embark on a government-funded pilot program of a four-day week for six months.   Participating companies committed to reducing weekly hours while  maintaining  full pay for employees.  We  tracked the experience of companies during the trial to  d etermine   the economic, societal, and environmental i mplications of the four-day week.  

Th is inclu ded  measur ing  the impact of reduced work time on the physical and mental health of workers, as well as the economic and functional impact on organisations.   

Using surveys  

For companies,  we  had  an  in itial  survey asking the reasons for their interest  i n the 4DWW  project  and an intermediate survey during the pilot inquiring about the implementation. For workers, we ran a survey before the pilot, one after three months and one after six months, in line with the international pilots.  

Having a wide breadth of participants  

Recruitment  of participating companies  was open  to all private sector firms in Portugal , and those that took part in the study came from a wide range of sectors. While most  participating firms were  engaged in professional,  scientific  and technical activities, the trial  also  includ ed  a nursery, a care home, a stem cells bank, a research and development centre, and firms from manufacturing, retail, and not-for-profit sectors .   

Establishing  methods of  best practice   for  logistics  and  communication   

Th e  Portuguese  government  did  not give any subsidy to the companies, but  provid ed  technical services, in partnership with   4 Day Week Global ,   a not-for-profit organization,  to support the transition  to the  four-day  working  week .   These included weekly sessions that started  three  months prior to the trial, to  help companies define the format of the four-day week,  establish  mea sures to evaluate the success of the trial,  communicate the trial with workers and clients, and set organizational changes  to boost productivity.    

Summa ry  of  the project  findings

95% of companies  rat ed  th e experience positively   

85% of workers said  they’d   require  more than a 20% pay increase to return to five days  

In 58.5% of companies, workers had one day off per week ,  while 41.5% of companies opted for a nine-day fortnight. After four months, the organizations rated the overall trial an average of 7.7/10  

W ithin three months, the frequency of negative mental health symptoms decreased significantly, with anxiety falling by 21%, fatigue dropping by 23%, and insomnia or sleep problems reducing by 19%  

The percentage of workers who struggled with balancing work and family responsibilities fell from 46% to 8%  

65% of workers spent more time with their families after the reduction in working ho urs  

How can this research inform change ?   

Provide a  model  for innovation  

T he information generated  by this project  will  help and encourage other Portuguese and international firms to experiment alternative ways of organizing work. S ome  Portuguese  companies have  already  reached out showing interest to start their own trial.   

Educate and impact   workers'  rights and  policy makers  

Second ly , our research will  inform trade unions about the trade-offs involved in reducing the working time that might be used when negotiating on collective agreements.  During the past year, we were asked to  explain the project to several trade unions, such as  IGMetal l  (Germany), UGT (Portugal)  or  Federatie   Nederlandse   Vakbeweging  (Netherlands).  W e hope it will help policy makers in designing evidence-based policies and political parties in preparing electoral platforms.  

Increase public awareness and discussion  

Since the beginning of the pilot, we counted more than 500 references in the Portuguese media (reports or interviews in newspapers, radio, tv, opinion articles or independent media), but also from international media (more than 40 references in media in English, 40 articles in Spain, 40 articles in Italy, 20 in France and 20 in Germany, with several international news outlets coming to Portugal to talk to the firms involved). This testifies the interest on the topic. It also attests that, despite being a project in a small country, because it has been well conducted, what we learn from it is important in an international scale.  

Fact  f inder    

Full project title :  Four-Day Working Week: A Government Plan to Trial It  

Project funding :   £ 75,544  

Funder :  Institute for Employment & Vocational Training (Portuguese Ministry of Employment )  

Dates of research :  14 September 2022 to April 2024  

People :  Prof essor   Pedro Gomes  with  Dr  Rita Fontinha (Henley Business School)  

More details :   Read the full details and findings of the study  

“We tracked the experience of companies during the trial to determine the economic, societal, and environmental implications of the four-day week. This included measuring the impact of reduced work time on the physical and mental health of workers, as well as the economic and functional impact on organisations. ”

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Labour’s four-day week: How it will work and who can do it

Employees could get the right to a four-day working week under new laws being considered by Labour as part of their package for workers .

This would come in the form of “compressed hours” where an employee is allowed to work their regular hours over four days instead of five, according to reports.

Angela Rayner is understood to be spearheading Labour’s plan for workers , consulting with trade unions and businesses ahead of new legislation expected in the autumn.

Under current rules, workers have the right to request flexible working, but employers aren’t legally obliged to agree.

The new law would see this change, with all employers needing to offer flexible working from day one, except where it is “not reasonably feasible”.

This means workers could be able to request that their employers allow them to undertake their normal working hours over a four day period. However, the policy is more likely to be beneficial to office workers and those with regular hours. Employers in industries like hospitality or retail will be more likely to be able to argue that requests are not feasible.

Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said of the reports: “We think that flexible working is actually good for productivity. So the four-day week that I know is on the front of quite a lot of newspapers today, what we’re actually talking about there is the type of flexible working that enables you to use compressed hours.”

Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said: “This is a welcome move from the government which recognises that the future of work we are heading for is a four-day week for all.

“However, these proposals would only allow workers to compress their working hours rather than reduce them which we have found is key for improving work-life balance and also maintaining productivity.

“Compressing the same amount of hours into four-days rather than five can be an important first step on the road to a true four-day week but reducing overall working hours is crucial.”

Ahead of July’s election, the 4 Day Week Campaign called on political parties to back a reduction of the maximum working week from 48 hours to 32 by the end of the decade, with no loss of pay.

A study showed that the policy was popular among UK companies, with most that participated in a ground-breaking trial making the policy permanent. The trial, the largest ever of its kind , tested the new way of working in 61 companies, with 54 of them (89 per cent) still operating the policy a year later.

However, the Conservatives warn that the policy will negatively impact businesses and hit economic growth. Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory shadow business secretary, said: “Despite warning after warning from industry, Angela Rayner is pressing ahead with her French-style union laws that will make doing business more expensive in the UK.

“ Labour must listen to businesses who are petrified about day one employment rights and bringing in the four-day week through the back door. It will be businesses and consumers who pay and growth that suffers if they don’t listen.”

However, ministers have insisted they have “no plans” to force businesses to accept a four-day working week.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Our Make Work Pay plan is designed around increasing productivity and creating the right conditions for businesses to support sustained economic growth. Many employers already provide good, family-friendly conditions for their workers because they know that doing so improves morale and retention.

“We are working in close partnership with business and civil society to find the balance between improving workers’ rights while supporting the brilliant businesses that pay people’s wages.”

Labour’s reported proposals come as part of their “New Deal for Working People” which promises a slate of new rights for workers. These include banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ending “fire and rehire” practices, and giving workers the “ right to switch off ”.

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Workers' rights to four-day week could be strengthened

Full-time workers' rights to ask for a four-day working week could be strengthened under government plans to increase flexible working.

Employees would still have to work their full hours to receive their full pay but could request to compress their contracted hours into a shorter working week, as first reported by the Daily Telegraph .

Since April, workers have already had the right to ask for flexible working as soon as they start a job but firms do not have to agree.

The government says it will not impose changes on staff or businesses, but the Conservatives say businesses are "petrified" about the plans.

A spokesperson at the Department for Business and Trade said: "Any changes to employment legislation will be consulted on, working in partnership with business."

Education Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told LBC that "flexible working is actually good for productivity".

She said the four-day week being discussed would allow someone to work 10 hours a day for four days instead of working eight hours a day for five days.

"You're still doing the same amount of work, but perhaps you're doing it in a way that enables you, for example, to need less childcare, to spend more time with your family, to do other things, that encourages more people into the workplace," she added.

Employees already have the right to request flexible working

Employers must deal with requests in a "reasonable manner" but can turn them down "if they have a good business reason for doing so".

Charlie Thompson, employment partner at law firm Stewarts, said: "It’s not yet clear what this “new” law will entail.

"One possibility is for the government to make it more difficult for employers to refuse such requests, because at present it is quite easy for them to do so.”

Earlier this year, Morrisons scrapped four-day working weeks for its head office staff following feedback.

In order to make the four-day week work, staff had to work some Saturdays, which resulted in complaints and dissatisfaction.

In July, Asda shelved a four-day week trial after staff complained that their longer shifts were too demanding.

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at HR body the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, said flexible working arrangements such as compressed hours "can help people balance their work and home life commitments, while also supporting employer efforts to recruit and retain staff".

"However flexible working has to work for both the business and workers if it’s to be sustainable."

He added that it would make sense for the government to assess the impact of changes introduced in April, which allow people to request flexible working from day one of employment, before making further changes.

'I'm happier at work'

Kelly Burton is a mental health nurse from Crewe who asked to condense her hours into a four day working week to get a better work-life balance.

She was granted permission from her employer once she could prove it was possible to do her five-day job in the space of four days.

“Since July I have started working Monday to Thursday 8-6pm instead of Monday to Friday 9-5pm.

"I’m happier at work, can spend the extra day looking after elderly parents and still have my weekend. Perfect work-life balance," Ms Burton said.

She thinks she would have had to change jobs or move to part-time if flexible working hadn't been an option.

"My employer has a happy worker and a happy worker always goes over and above for them," she said.

Firms stick to four-day week after trial ends

Is working four days a week better than five.

Details of any changes are expected in the autumn when a law to create a new package of workers' rights is expected to begin its journey through Parliament.

Labour has pledged to repeal some anti-trade union laws, restrict the use of zero-hours contracts and expand flexible working arrangements.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calls the proposals "the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation".

But the Conservative opposition claims the approach would damage business and lead to reduced productivity.

In 2022, several UK companies took place in a six-month trial to test a four-day working week, which saw workers receive full pay for working fewer hours.

Tyler Grange, an environmental consultancy, took part in the trial and in 2023 told the BBC it was sticking with the working pattern.

Simon Ursell, its managing director, said the first month of the trial had been "a bit white knuckle".

But the firm said it found the extra day off boosted staff happiness and even resulted in more people applying to work there.

However, the experiment did not work for Mark Roderick’s engineering and industrial supplies company Allcap.

“As opposed to 10 normal workdays, we found that employees would have nine extreme ones – once they got to their scheduled day off they were exhausted," he said last year.

"Once we factored in holidays, sickness and caring responsibilities, we also struggled to find cover for an employee on their rest day," he said.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, work-study opportunities at purdue.

Hey guys, so I was wondering – does anyone have experience with the work-study program at Purdue? What kind of jobs are available, and how difficult is it to balance between studying and work? I'm trying to plan out my finances and any help would be great!

Finding the balance between studies and work-study can be challenging but not unmanageable. One of the keys is managing your time efficiently. Many students who participate in work-study programs find that they have to be more disciplined with their study times to ensure that everything gets done. One tip is to try to utilize the time throughout the day, such as in-between classes, to study or complete tasks.

As for the kind of jobs available, there's a range of options available at Purdue. These can include roles in campus facilities, administrative offices, research labs, campus dining services, and various academic departments. Some work-study student jobs might also require certain skills or coursework. For instance, if you've taken classes in a certain subject or have particular computer skills, you might be able to leverage that for positions in a matching department or a computing lab, respectively.

Take note that work-study is a form of financial aid and you'll need to demonstrate financial need via your FAFSA to qualify. If you're awarded work-study, the hours per week that you are allowed to work will be determined by your financial aid package.

Remember to start the search process early so you have plenty of time to apply to several positions and find one that fits you best. You'll want to take into consideration factors such as the work schedule, the location on campus, and if the job aligns with your interests or career goals. After all, apart from helping you with finances, work-study can also provide valuable work experience.

Best of luck planning out your finances and your potential work-study journey at Purdue!

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CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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