'Every Employee Is on a 4-Day Week': Here's How Eliminating a Workday Without Cutting Pay Impacted Hundreds of Businesses

Adopting a four-day workweek can improve employees' mental health and boost a business's bottom line, according to a new study .

After studying over 245 businesses and nonprofits that have piloted a four-day workweek in their organizations over the past three years, Boston College economist Juliet B. Schor, also a lead researcher at 4Day Week Global, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that working one day less a week resulted in health benefits for employees. Nearly 70% of workers reported reduced burnout, over 40% experienced better mental health, and 37% saw better physical health.

The pilot programs have reached 8,700 employees around the world, including the U.S., U.K., Brazil, and Ireland , and have lasted for at least six months at each company.

On the employer side, the majority of organizations that piloted a four-day workweek noticed improved bottom-line metrics, including increased revenue and dwindling resignations. The results were so clear that over 90% of the more than 200 companies that started a six-month trial by June 2023 were still on a four-day workweek schedule a year later.

Cloud computing provider Civo, which has 84 employees according to PitchBook, piloted the four-day week in 2020 and implemented it as company policy in January 2021. Civo CEO Mark Boost told The Register in April that the company has continued a four-day workweek for the past four years after positive feedback from staff and no decline in productivity.

"Every employee is on a four-day week and most employees opted for Fridays off, which gives them a three-day weekend," Boost told The Register .

Kickstarter also works on a four-day week, which started as a pilot program in 2021. Employee engagement is up 50% as a result. Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor told Kevin O'Leary in July that employees are "very productive" within their four days of work per week.

However, a four-day week can have disadvantages. According to the BBC , reducing the workweek by a day can lead to a more intense workload on the remaining four days, potentially causing more employee stress.

In 2019, Microsoft Japan gave its 2,300-person workforce five Fridays off in a row in August without cutting their pay. The four-day workweeks led to 40% more productivity, with employees taking off 25% less time during the trial, according to the study. Despite the promising findings, Microsoft ended the program after trialing it without giving a reason for not implementing the four-day workweek as a permanent policy.

Still, a recent survey shows that more than three in five U.S. employees want a four-day workweek, even if they have to work longer hours. The survey, released by LiveCareer in January, polled 1,130 Americans about their thoughts on a four-day workweek, working 10-hour days.

Nearly 70% of employees supported a four-day week, predicting that it would make them more productive and lead to better work-life balance.