In the heart of Iceland, a nation-wide experiment unfolded between 2015 and 2019. Over 2,500 workers—roughly 1% of the country’s workforce—reduced their weekly hours from 40 to 35-36 without any reduction in pay. The results? Productivity remained the same or improved, while worker wellbeing dramatically increased across multiple indicators from stress to burnout to health and work-life balance.
This wasn’t just another corporate wellness initiative—it was a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between time, work, and human potential.
The Evolution of Working Hours
The 40-hour, 5-day workweek wasn’t handed down from the heavens. It emerged in the early 20th century as a compromise between the grueling industrial schedules of the 1800s and the growing labor movement’s call for humane working conditions. When Henry Ford adopted the 5-day week in 1926, he wasn’t just being generous—he recognized that exhausted workers made preventable mistakes and that employees with leisure time became consumers who could afford the very products they were making.
Nearly a century later, we’re ripe for another revolution—and the 4-day workweek is its rallying cry.
The Case for Working Less
At first glance, the math seems impossible: cut 20% of working time without reducing output? Yet a growing body of evidence suggests it’s not only possible but potentially transformative:
Productivity Paradox
Microsoft Japan tested a 4-day workweek in 2019 and found productivity jumped by 40%. How? Meetings became shorter and more focused, unnecessary tasks were eliminated, and technology was leveraged more effectively. When time became precious, waste became obvious.
“The greatest enemy of productivity is not lack of time, but ineffective use of it,” explains productivity consultant Alex Pang, author of Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less. “The 4-day week creates productive pressure that forces organizations to examine their inefficiencies.”
The Wellbeing Dividend
In the largest 4-day workweek trial to date, 61 UK companies with over 3,300 workers participated in a six-month program in 2022. The results were striking:
- 39% reduction in stress
- 71% decrease in burnout
- 65% reduction in sick days
- 57% fewer employees left these companies during the trial
Perhaps most tellingly, 92% of participating companies decided to continue with the 4-day model after the trial ended.
“We thought it would be temporary,” said one participating CEO. “But we’ve found that treating employees like adults—giving them responsibility for managing their time and delivering outcomes—has transformed our culture.”
Talent Attraction and Retention
In today’s competitive labor market, the 4-day week has become a powerful recruitment tool. A recent ZipRecruiter study found that job posts mentioning 4-day workweeks received 31% more applications.
“It’s become our secret weapon,” explains Sharon Thompson, HR Director at a mid-sized tech firm. “We’ve attracted senior talent from competitors offering 20% higher salaries simply because we offer three-day weekends.”
Real-World Success Stories
The 4-day workweek isn’t just theoretical—companies across various sectors are making it work:
Uncharted (Formerly Uncharted Power)
This Boulder-based company that helps social entrepreneurs switched to a 4-day schedule in 2020. CEO Banks Benitez reports that not only has productivity maintained, but employee happiness scores have increased by 21%.
“We’re not working less,” Benitez clarifies. “We’re working more efficiently and with greater focus during those four days.”
Perpetual Guardian
This New Zealand estate planning firm made headlines in 2018 as an early adopter. After an initial trial, they found:
- 20% increase in productivity
- 27% reduction in work stress
- 45% improvement in work-life balance
Founder Andrew Barnes has become an evangelist for the approach, arguing that “the 4-day week is not about working less, but working smarter.”
DNS Filter
This cybersecurity company implemented “Focus Fridays” where employees can choose to work on deep-thinking projects without meetings or take the day off entirely. The result was a 23% increase in product development velocity and significantly improved employee satisfaction.
The Challenges and Limitations
Despite the impressive results, the 4-day workweek isn’t a universal solution:
Industry Constraints
Service industries with customer-facing roles face obvious challenges. A restaurant can’t simply close an extra day without financial impact. Healthcare facilities need continuous staffing.
Bolt Logistics, a Canadian logistics company, had to abandon their 4-day experiment because it created coverage issues in their warehouses and increased costs.
“For us, it meant hiring more people to cover the same hours,” explained their CEO. “The math simply didn’t work.”
Implementation Complexity
Organizations often underestimate the operational changes required. Successful implementation typically involves:
- Process redesign
- Meeting reduction
- Communication protocols
- Technology investment
- Management training
“It’s not as simple as declaring Friday a day off,” explains workforce consultant Jennifer Lewis. “You’re essentially rebuilding how work gets done.”
Stress Concentration
Some employees report that compressing five days of work into four can increase daily pressure. One worker described it as “trading one form of stress for another—fewer days, but more intense ones.”
This highlights the importance of not just reducing days, but redesigning work processes to accommodate the new schedule.
How to Make It Work
Organizations considering the 4-day workweek can learn from early adopters:
Start With a Trial
Almost every successful implementation began with a defined trial period—typically 3-6 months—with clear metrics for success.
“The trial approach reduces resistance,” explains organizational psychologist Martin Moore. “It allows skeptics to say ‘let’s see what happens’ rather than offering outright opposition.”
Redefine Productivity
Traditional working patterns are filled with what anthropologist David Graeber called “bullshit jobs”—tasks that add little value but consume time. Successful 4-day implementations begin by identifying and eliminating these tasks.
Teams should ask:
- Which meetings can be eliminated or shortened?
- What processes have unnecessary steps?
- Which reports or documents are created but rarely used?
- Where are we duplicating efforts?
Embrace Asynchronous Work
When organizations shift to four days, they typically need to reduce synchronous activities—those requiring everyone to be present simultaneously. This means:
- Documenting decisions and discussions
- Creating clear processes for moving work forward independently
- Using collaboration tools effectively
- Establishing communication protocols (when to use email vs. chat vs. meetings)
Address Coverage Issues
For customer-facing roles, staggered schedules often work better than everyone taking the same day off. Some companies maintain five-day operations with four-day individual schedules by having different teams take different days off.
The Future Outlook
The 4-day workweek appears to be reaching a tipping point. What began as isolated experiments is becoming a mainstream consideration:
- Belgium made a 4-day workweek an option for all workers in 2022
- Scotland, Spain, and Japan have announced government-backed pilot programs
- 40% of U.S. companies surveyed by Gartner in 2023 reported they were considering a 4-day schedule within the next two years
Perhaps most significantly, 63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent with a 4-day week, according to a recent Henley Business School study.
The Deeper Question
Beyond productivity and logistics, the 4-day workweek conversation forces us to confront deeper questions about work itself: Why do we work the hours we do? Do longer hours actually produce better results? What would people do with more time freedom?
The early evidence from 4-day adopters suggests intriguing answers. People with an extra day tend to:
- Pursue education and skill development
- Engage more deeply in family care
- Contribute to community initiatives
- Start side businesses
- Reduce their carbon footprint (through less commuting)
“The four-day week isn’t just about work—it’s about building a society where people have time to be better citizens, parents, neighbors, and humans,” argues Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a consultant on shorter working hours.
Conclusion: Evolution, Not Revolution
The 4-day workweek may not be universal tomorrow, but it represents a significant evolution in how we think about productivity, wellbeing, and the role of work in our lives.
A century ago, reducing work hours from 60+ to 40 per week seemed economically impossible to many business leaders. Today, few would argue that 60-hour workweeks make economic sense for most roles.
Perhaps in another decade, we’ll look back at the 5-day week with similar perspective—a relic of an era that hadn’t yet discovered that human productivity isn’t about time spent, but value created.
Organizations that recognize this shift early will likely gain significant advantages in the increasingly competitive talent landscape, while those that resist may find themselves explaining why they require presence over performance.
The question isn’t whether your organization could operate on four days—it’s whether you’ll be able to compete with those that do.
