4-day work week was a success, say global pilot organizers

The verdict is: a four-day workweek is good for business.

After six months, most of the 33 companies and 903 workers who are testing the schedule, with no pay reduction, are unlikely to return to a standard workweek, according to organizers of the global pilot program.

None of the 27 participating companies that responded to a 4 Day Week Global survey said they were planning to return to their old five-day routine. About 97% of the 495 employees who responded said they would like to continue with a four-day week.

Most of the companies that participated in the study were based in the United States and Ireland. Survey respondents rated their overall experience 9 out of 10, based on productivity and performance.

Workers were equally positive about the test, reporting lower levels of stress, fatigue, insomnia and burnout, as well as improvements in physical and mental health.

The judgment was also good for the company’s earnings. Average revenue grew 38% over the same period last year, according to the survey.

4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organization, collaborated with researchers from Boston College, University College Dublin and Cambridge University for the test. It was divided into two cohorts, starting in February and April of this year.

Juliet Schor, a professor of sociology at Boston College and the study’s lead researcher, said employees did not report an increase in their work intensity.

“This suggests that the work reorganization strategy was successful and performance was not achieved by [aceleração]which is neither sustainable nor desirable,” she said.

“Win-win”

Jon Leland, director of strategy at Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site participating in the trial, described the schedule as a “true win-win.”

“The 4-day week was transformative for our business and our people. The team is more focused, more engaged and more dedicated, helping us achieve our goals better than ever before,” he said in a statement.

A separate six-month trial in the UK, also run by 4 Day Week Global, which included 70 companies and 3,300 workers, ended this month. The results of this test – the largest in the world to date – should be released in February.

Earlier this year, workers at the UK trial described to CNN Business how the extra day off changed their lives for the better, giving them more time to run errands, pursue hobbies and simply recharge.

Calls to shorten the workweek have gained momentum in recent years. As millions of employees have shifted to remote work during the pandemic – cutting time and costly commuting costs – these calls have only increased.