“If companies are really committed to this, they would demonstrate it by turning off network access on the days that they’re not scheduled to work, and asking people to leave their laptops in the office,” said David Lewis, chief executive officer of the HR consulting firm OperationsInc. “But I just don't see companies doing that.”
One weakness of the study is that all of the participating organizations opted in, meaning leadership was already biased toward four-day weeks. But employees—who didn’t necessarily opt in— were won over. Ninety-seven percent wanted to continue with four-day schedules, with workers reporting less work stress, burnout, anxiety and fatigue, along with fewer sleep problems.
Exercise increased by 24 minutes a week, putting workers in line with World Health Organization recommended exercise targets. Employees also reported fewer conflicts between work and family, and less instances of coming home from work too tired to do necessary household tasks. Notably, the extra time off wasn’t used for secondary employment, but instead for hobbies, housework and self care.
The companies in the study also skewed toward smaller businesses (from under 10 to over 400 employees) with fairly young worker populations. But the researchers say they are in talks with larger, better-known companies with 1,000 to 35,000 employees for 2023 pilots, which will also allow for control groups within companies. The participating organizations spanned tech (36%), professional services (27%) and nonprofits (9%), with the remainder spread across arts, manufacturing, construction, education, food, health care and retail. Most employees were based in the U.S., Ireland and Australia, with a small number in the UK, New Zealand and Canada.
Critically, employees didn’t report an increase in the intensity of their work. A two-month pre-planning program included workshops on reducing work hours by eliminating unnecessary, inefficient and duplicitous work, rather than working in high gear. Most companies adopted four-day schedules, though a small percentage opted for shorter five-day schedules.
The research also suggests that four-day weeks might spur dividends for the environment.
“There’s good reason to believe that worktime reduction will be a tailwind in the struggle to reduce carbon emissions,” Schor said. The researchers didn’t attempt an exhaustive environmental tally, but employees commuted about one hour less per week on average and car commuters dropped by 4%. Prior studies have shown correlation between work hours and emissions.
One low note came around gender: The study found no change in the balance of household tasks, meaning that when men had a free day off, they didn’t do more housework, though they helped a little more on child care.
After the trials, workers said they would want raises to return to the status quo. Forty-two percent said they’d need at least a 26% to 50% salary increase, 13% said they’d need more than 50%, and 13% said no amount of money could get them back to a 40-hour week. As one employee wrote in a survey, “The 4-day work week is equivalent to a ~25% pay bump in my opinion.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing what the companies have learned in a year,” said Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder and managing director of 4 Day Week Global. “As wonderful as these results are, it’s just a pilot, and what we’re looking for is the long-term sustainable model.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.