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Americans Need a 4-Day Workweek
Show this article to your boss: Amid growing employee stress and burnout, the increasingly popular four-day workweek can boost worker health and morale and lift productivity and company profits. So why isn’t everyone doing it?
Joe Welch is not allowed to work on Fridays. The company he works for is several weeks into a six-month trial of a four-day workweek, in which employees work eight hours a day, Monday through Thursday, and can choose to do some personal development on Fridays but are forbidden from actual work.
“Having an extra day on the weekend is life-changing,” Welch said. “Having an extra day to do chores, errands, relax — without feeling like you’re wasting a precious weekend day — feels freeing.”
Welch, design director for the Swedish video game developer Turborilla, manages a globally distributed four-person team from Texas. I asked him how the 4DWW, as the trial is called, is going for his team. “They all love the 4DWW so far, and we haven’t encountered any major challenges yet,” he said. “They come in on Monday more refreshed and energetic. Overall the office vibes have definitely improved! Productivity hasn’t taken a hit, if anything it might be up.”
While the idea has gotten only minimal traction in the United States, it’s picking up steam.
Last week, Congressman Mark Takano, a California Democrat, reintroduced the 32 Hour Workweek Act, which would lower the threshold for overtime pay from the current 40 hours. While one might imagine the bill is doomed in a divided Congress, the benefits to such a plan are becoming increasingly clear and should be attractive across party lines.
The 32-hour four-day week, tested in pilot studies around the world, promises to improve employee morale and health, increase retention, draw older workers back into the workforce, save money on utilities, grow productivity, and boost the bottom line— if it’s done right.
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