Four-day work weeks are changing how millions of people view their work-life balance. As stress levels increase and burnout becomes more common, countries and companies are experimenting with whether a shorter workweek could lead to a more productive and healthier workforce.
From Europe to Asia, large-scale four-day work week trials are yielding data in not only working less but also producing less.
A global experiment
In the United Kingdom, one of the most notable experiments was conducted, involving more than 60 companies in a six-month pilot coordinated by 4 Day Week Global, Boston College, and researchers from Cambridge and Oxford in 2022.
According to the 4 Day Week Global Final report, 92 percent of participating companies decided to continue with a four-day work week.
Company revenue was up 35 percent compared to the previous year, and 1.4 percent on average during the trial. Burnout among employees was down 71 percent, and stress levels (as reported by staff themselves) decreased to a significant extent.
In Iceland, trials conducted between 2015 and 2019 involving more than 2,500 workers reduced the number of hours worked weekly from 40 to 35 – 36 hours without reducing their pay.
A joint report by Autonomy and the Association for Sustainability and Democracy found that productivity stayed at the same level or even increased. Finally, 86 percent of Iceland’s workforce today has either shifted to shorter hours or has the right to ask for them.
Policy moves in Europe and Asia
Some countries are adopting formal measures; Belgium introduced legislation in 2022 that empowers employees to compress their weekly working hours into four days without any deductions from salaries.
In Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that it would introduce a four-day work week for public employees starting in 2025 to improve work-life balance and address declining birth rates.
These developments demonstrate that the idea is growing to include public policy discussions rather than just experimental cases.
Why are companies interested?
Three outcomes, in particular, emerged from the experiment:
- Employee well-being – mental well-being, stress reduction.
- Stable or improved productivity – Many firms reveal that the output remains equal despite the reduction in hours.
- Better recruitment and retention – Shorter weeks make employers more competitive in tight labour markets.
A 2023 report stated that revenue losses were not experienced by the majority of the participating companies, while absenteeism dropped.
The challenges
Despite such promising results, experts warn that the model does not fit every sector. Industries that need to provide coverage all the time face logistical challenges in this regard.
There is also an argument as to four-day work week actually reduces the total number of working hours or concentrates them in longer days. Economists argue that implementation is heavily dependent on productivity levels, labour laws, and workplace culture in every country.
So, is it the future?
The five-day work week itself was once considered radical after it replaced six-day labour schedules in the early 20th century. Today, automation, digital tools, and artificial intelligence are once again reshuffling the organization of work.
While a four-day work week is unlikely to become universal overnight, global trials suggest that it is more than a temporary trend. For many companies, the question is no longer ‘Can we afford to shorten the week?’ but rather ‘Can we afford not to?’
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