4-Day Workweek Catching On In The United States

The concept of a four-day workweek is not new, but there are very few large-scale trials to measure its success. One study in the Academy of Management Journal found that the four-day workweek does not reduce labor productivity and may in fact increase it. A larger study in the United Kingdom in June of this year launched the largest four-day workweek pilot to date, including more than 3,300 workers and 70 British companies.

Midpoint Results Of The U.K. Study

After a six-month, four-day workweek trial, findings from 4 Day Week Global show that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some understandable hurdles, mostly among those with fixed or inflexible practices, systems or cultures that date back well into the last century. Overall, the trial found no productivity loss associated with a four-day work week pilot program with some companies reporting significant improvements, corroborating earlier findings. The U.K. study found that the four-day week freed up employee personal time, boosted their well-being and made them more productive during working hours. Other key findings include:

• 88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working “well” for their business at this stage in the trial.
• 46% of respondents say their business productivity has “maintained around the same level,” while 34% report that it has “improved slightly,” and 15% say it has “improved significantly.”
• On how smooth the transition to a four-day week has been (with 5 being extremely smooth and 1 being extremely challenging), 29% of respondents selected 5, 49% selected 4 and 20% selected 3.
• 86% of respondents stated that at this juncture in the trial, they would be extremely likely and or likely to consider retaining the four-day week policy after the trial period.

Americans Catching The Four-Day Week Bug

Now with more science backing up the concept of the four-day work week, it’s catching on in the United States (talking about you, California). A shortened week gives employees more personal time for work-life balance—to exercise, enjoy hobbies and spend time with their families, boosting workplace wellness, work engagement and the company’s bottom line. Still, it’s important for businesses to do a stress-test on their business processes before making the switch, cautions Sofia Passova, Ph.D., former rocket scientist and founder and CEO of StereoLOGIC. “For some companies, failing to understand internal processes and the tasks their employees perform each day is a critical misstep that can torpedo their efforts to maintain productivity during a major workforce-related shift,” she told me. “The goal of a shortened workweek is to find ways to help employees work smarter, not harder,” Passova explained. “And the best way to do that is to identify ways to improve, streamline and maximize the value of their output through data-enabled analysis of the processes and tasks that determine their day-to-day activities.”

While the concept of a four-day workweek has been in talks for a while here in the states, Shane Metcalf, co-founder and Chief Culture Officer at 15Five insists that company cultures can be transformational, and rethinking company benefits like a four day workweek will inevitably foster happier employees and better overall performance. “Since early 2020, newly remote or hybrid employees have been burning out due to a lack of boundaries between work and life,” he told me. “A four-day workweek can create greater structure around work and adds a free weekday to rejuvenate, handle life matters and often to deepen relationships with family.”

Strategies Employers Can Take

According to Passova, there are three points employers must keep in mind to make the four-day workweek a success:

1. Your employees can do more in four days than they can in five—if they can work smarter.
2. Working smarter means being aware of what employees do and what they don’t do and most importantly where they lose time.
3. To find out where they lose time, you need to visualize and measure employee processes—a very useful tool that can save tons of money as a result.

“Many businesses continue to make a one-to-one connection between hours worked and productivity, but we’re not machines,” Metcalf concludes. “Downtime actually allows for greater productivity because we don’t have important life matters constantly stealing our attention, and some personal space allows for creative solution to work challenges to naturally surface. A four-day workweek can be a great response to the employee burnout dilemma we are experiencing because it exhibits a commitment from leaders to prioritize downtime without sacrificing performance. Now more than ever, people need to know that their employers genuinely care.”