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Four-day workweek
A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five-day workweek. This arrangement can be a part of flexible working hours, and is sometimes used to cut costs.
The four-day week movement has grown considerably in recent years, with increasing numbers of businesses and organizations around the world trialing and moving permanently to a four-day working week of around 32 hours, with no less pay for workers. Most of these businesses and organizations have involved white collar work, and found that a four-day week is a win-win for employees and employers, as trials have indicated that it leads to a better work-life balance, lower stress-levels, and increased productivity, mainly by eliminating wasted work time. An overwhelming majority of studies report that a four-day week leads to increased productivity and decreased stress, though experts question whether this increased profit arrangement is possible in blue collar work, where there may be little wasted time, or workers would be required to work faster to maintain the same productivity, potentially increasing stress levels and decreasing safety.
The five-day workweek is a cultural norm; the result of early 1900s union advocacy to reduce the six-day workweek, which led to the invention of the weekend. In the early 20th century, when the average work week in developed nations was reduced from around 60 to 40 hours, it was expected that further decreases would occur over time. In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes estimated that technological change and productivity improvements would make a 15-hour work week possible within a couple of generations. Other notable people throughout history to predict continuing reductions in working hours include United States (US) founding father Benjamin Franklin, Karl Marx, British philosopher John Stuart Mill, and playwright George Bernard Shaw.
In 1933, the United States nearly passed a 30-hour workweek bill, opposed by big business, which collapsed after a pivot toward full employment during the Great Depression. In 1956, then US Vice President Richard Nixon promised Americans they would only have to work four days "in the not-too-distant future".
The four-day workweek got renewed interest after the COVID-19 pandemic increased concerns over burnout and workplace flexibility.
During the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, organizers pushed for a 32-hour workweek inspired by union activism from the 1930s and 1940s.
Most advocates for a four-day working week argue for a fixed work schedule, resulting in shorter weeks (e.g. four 8-hour workdays for a total of 32 hours). This follows the 100-80-100 model: 100% pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity. However, some companies have introduced a four-day week based on a compressed work schedule: in the so-called "4/10 work week," the widely used 40 weekly work hours are distributed across four days instead of five, resulting in 10-hour workdays (hence "four-ten").
The 9/80 work schedule can be seen as an intermediate between a compressed 4 day week and a 5-day week: every 2 weeks, a 4-day work-week alternates with a 5-day work-week.
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Four-day workweek
A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five-day workweek. This arrangement can be a part of flexible working hours, and is sometimes used to cut costs.
The four-day week movement has grown considerably in recent years, with increasing numbers of businesses and organizations around the world trialing and moving permanently to a four-day working week of around 32 hours, with no less pay for workers. Most of these businesses and organizations have involved white collar work, and found that a four-day week is a win-win for employees and employers, as trials have indicated that it leads to a better work-life balance, lower stress-levels, and increased productivity, mainly by eliminating wasted work time. An overwhelming majority of studies report that a four-day week leads to increased productivity and decreased stress, though experts question whether this increased profit arrangement is possible in blue collar work, where there may be little wasted time, or workers would be required to work faster to maintain the same productivity, potentially increasing stress levels and decreasing safety.
The five-day workweek is a cultural norm; the result of early 1900s union advocacy to reduce the six-day workweek, which led to the invention of the weekend. In the early 20th century, when the average work week in developed nations was reduced from around 60 to 40 hours, it was expected that further decreases would occur over time. In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes estimated that technological change and productivity improvements would make a 15-hour work week possible within a couple of generations. Other notable people throughout history to predict continuing reductions in working hours include United States (US) founding father Benjamin Franklin, Karl Marx, British philosopher John Stuart Mill, and playwright George Bernard Shaw.
In 1933, the United States nearly passed a 30-hour workweek bill, opposed by big business, which collapsed after a pivot toward full employment during the Great Depression. In 1956, then US Vice President Richard Nixon promised Americans they would only have to work four days "in the not-too-distant future".
The four-day workweek got renewed interest after the COVID-19 pandemic increased concerns over burnout and workplace flexibility.
During the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, organizers pushed for a 32-hour workweek inspired by union activism from the 1930s and 1940s.
Most advocates for a four-day working week argue for a fixed work schedule, resulting in shorter weeks (e.g. four 8-hour workdays for a total of 32 hours). This follows the 100-80-100 model: 100% pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity. However, some companies have introduced a four-day week based on a compressed work schedule: in the so-called "4/10 work week," the widely used 40 weekly work hours are distributed across four days instead of five, resulting in 10-hour workdays (hence "four-ten").
The 9/80 work schedule can be seen as an intermediate between a compressed 4 day week and a 5-day week: every 2 weeks, a 4-day work-week alternates with a 5-day work-week.