Biggest trial of four-day work week finds workers are happier and feel just as productive
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02295-2
Biggest trial of four-day work week finds workers are happier and feel just as productive
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02295-2
5 Comments
Moving to a four-day work week without losing pay leaves employees happier, healthier and higher-performing, according to the largest study of such an intervention so far, encompassing six countries1. The research showed that a six-month trial of working four days a week reduced burnout, increased job satisfaction and improved mental and physical health.
I’ve managed a few teams and my Friday policy is just be able to respond to an email. I don’t care if you want to do a half day. Or if it takes a few hours to get back to me. Or if we just deal with it on Monday. If you get the work done, you’ve earned the time for yourself
People exist outside of work. And letting them exist as a person makes for a better teammate.
ETA: you have a job. With a description and goals. If you meet them, go enjoy life.
A four-day work week may be a great move for many businesses and employees, but it will not be appropraite for every business, nor is it a sufficient response to new, labor-saving technologies such as AI.
For the average person to enjoy as much lesiure and freedom as our current level of technology allows, I believe we need a Universal Basic Income (UBI) properly implemented and calibrated to reflect our economy’s full potential.
Income through wages remain a useful way to motivate labor, but as our economy’s productivity and efficiency improve, it becomes less and less sensible to view wages as the normal source of spending or to expect employment to remain high.
The economy exists, ultimately, not to put people in jobs but to sustain everyone’s welfare and prosperity. UBI is a key part of a monetary system that allows everyone to negotiate for wages from a better starting point. It also enables us to make better decisions about how much free time to enjoy or to trade for compensation.
I’m glad that people are coming to see the benefits of working less over working more, but I hope that this endeavor does not end with shortening the formal work week. UBI is an important, overdue reform to the monetary system itself that allows people to be freer and more prosperous in general.
>The research showed that a six-month trial of working four days a week reduced burnout, increased job satisfaction and improved mental and physical health.
While I don’t doubt this was there equivalent on how much overall production there was? I get they may be higher performing during the time they’re there but is that a net output? (Sorry the article is paywalled so I can’t confirm if it was covered there).
Sure, who wouldn’t want to work less and make the same amount but from the top down the question is can you turn and many screw, put up as much drywall, see as many patients, sell as many widgets, etc in those four days? And if the solution is 4×10 instead of 5×8 then I find it hard to believe people are staying 100% as they creep into those back hours.
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