The Four-Day Workweek: Early Results from Global Trials
The traditional five-day workweek is facing a major challenge. Companies and governments around the world are testing shorter weeks to see if less time in the office leads to better results. We are looking at the hard data from these global trials to understand how a four-day week impacts both business productivity and employee happiness.
The 100-80-100 Rule Explained
Before looking at the data, it helps to understand how these trials actually work. Most companies participating in global trials use the 100-80-100 model.
This model requires companies to provide 100% of an employee’s normal pay for 80% of their traditional working hours. In exchange, the employee agrees to maintain 100% of their normal productivity. The concept was popularized by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart, the founders of the nonprofit coalition 4 Day Week Global. By focusing on output instead of hours logged, companies force their teams to cut out useless meetings, reduce distractions, and work more efficiently.
The Massive UK Trial Results
The largest and most closely watched experiment took place in the United Kingdom between June and December 2022. The trial was organized by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University and Boston College.
A total of 61 companies and around 2,900 workers participated. The businesses ranged from small local restaurants to large financial firms. The results at the end of the six-month period were highly positive:
- High Retention: Out of the 61 participating companies, 56 decided to continue the four-day workweek after the trial ended. Exactly 18 companies made the policy permanent immediately.
- Stable Revenue: Company revenue did not drop. In fact, revenue increased by an average of 1.4% during the six-month trial period. When compared to the same six months from the previous year, revenue was up an average of 35%.
- Better Health: Sick days dropped dramatically. Companies reported a 65% reduction in the number of sick days taken by staff.
- Lower Turnover: The number of staff leaving their jobs fell by 57% during the trial.
Juliet Schor, a lead researcher from Boston College, noted that the results held steady across different company sizes and industries. The data showed that a shorter week is not just a perk for tech startups, but a viable option for many traditional businesses.
How Corporate Pioneers Are Faring
Several massive global corporations have tested the waters with their own localized trials. Their internal data strongly mirrors the results seen in the larger national experiments.
Microsoft Japan
In August 2019, Microsoft Japan tested a four-day workweek program called the “Work-Life Choice Challenge.” They gave their 2,300 employees five consecutive Fridays off without decreasing their pay. The company reported a massive 40% increase in productivity, measured by sales per employee. They also saw strict operational savings. Electricity use in the office dropped by 23%, and employees printed 59% fewer pages.
Unilever New Zealand
The consumer goods giant Unilever launched a trial for 81 employees in its New Zealand offices in December 2020. Over an 18-month period, the company tracked performance and well-being. They reported a 34% drop in absenteeism. Furthermore, a company survey showed that feelings of strength and vigor at work increased by 15%. Unilever considered the trial such a success that they expanded it to their Australian offices in late 2022.
Kickstarter
The crowdfunding platform Kickstarter officially moved to a four-day workweek in 2022. The company structured it as a 32-hour workweek. Kickstarter leadership reported that employee engagement scores went up, and the company successfully met all of its financial and operational goals for the year.
The Public Sector: The Iceland Experiment
Private companies are not the only ones testing shorter hours. Between 2015 and 2019, the national government of Iceland and the Reykjavik City Council ran two massive trials. These trials included over 2,500 workers, which accounted for roughly 1% of the entire working population of the country.
Workers in hospitals, schools, and traditional offices moved from a 40-hour week to a 35 or 36-hour week. The productivity results remained exactly the same or improved across the majority of workplaces. The success of this public trial had lasting national effects. It led to mass renegotiations of union contracts. Today, almost 86% of Iceland’s workforce either works shorter hours or has the contractual right to request them.
Employee Happiness and Mental Health Metrics
While revenue and productivity keep executives happy, the most striking data from the global trials relates to human well-being. A shorter workweek drastically improves how people feel both in and out of the office.
Data from the 2022 UK trial provided incredible insight into employee mental health. At the end of the experiment, 71% of employees reported lower levels of burnout. Another 39% said they felt generally less stressed than they did before the trial began.
Sleep also improved significantly. Researchers found that 40% of participants reported experiencing fewer sleep issues or cases of insomnia. Employees also reported having an easier time balancing their personal lives. Exactly 60% found it easier to combine paid work with caregiving responsibilities, and 62% reported it was easier to balance work with their social lives.
Real Challenges and Roadblocks
Despite the glowing data, the four-day workweek is not a perfect fit for every organization. Implementing the 100-80-100 model requires massive changes to how a company operates.
Customer service departments, healthcare facilities, and manufacturing plants face the biggest hurdles. If a business needs a physical person manning a phone line or an assembly line 24 hours a day, reducing hours requires hiring more staff. This completely breaks the 100-80-100 model because payroll costs immediately increase.
Additionally, some managers report that cramming five days of tasks into four days can actually increase day-to-day stress. Meetings must be strictly limited to 15 or 30 minutes. Casual office socialization often disappears because employees are rushing to finish their tasks so they can enjoy their extra day off.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 100-80-100 model?
This is the standard formula used for four-day workweek trials. It stands for 100% of the pay, 80% of the time, and 100% of the productivity. Employees keep their full salary but agree to deliver the same amount of work in four days instead of five.
Do employees get a pay cut with a four-day workweek?
In the official trials run by organizations like 4 Day Week Global, employees do not get a pay cut. Maintaining the normal salary is a strict rule of the experiment. However, outside of these trials, some companies do offer four-day schedules for a 20% reduction in pay. This is simply considered part-time work, not the true four-day workweek model.
Which large companies have tested a four-day workweek?
Several major companies have run official trials or permanently adopted the schedule. Notable examples include Microsoft Japan, Unilever (in New Zealand and Australia), Kickstarter, Panasonic, and ThredUp.
Does a four-day workweek actually increase productivity?
Yes, early data shows it often does. In the 2022 UK trial involving 61 companies, average business revenue increased by 1.4% during the trial period. Microsoft Japan saw a 40% increase in sales per employee during their 2019 trial. Productivity stays high because companies eliminate unnecessary meetings and distractions to fit the work into fewer hours.