Major 4-day workweek study suggests that when we work 5 days we spend one doing basically nothing

Between client calls, meetings, and assignments, it may feel as if every minute of our working week is squeezed to the max. But as it turns out, we are all just procrastinators. That’s according to research which shows that workers can get as much done in a 33-hour week as in 38 hours. 

The 2023 report from nonprofit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global—which is the largest of its kind and the first to examine the long-term effects of the four-day week—found that the longer people worked a four-day week, the shorter their work weeks became without output or productivity taking a hit.

Workers could shave 5 hours off their workweek

Up until now, most studies have examined the short-term effects of working a shorter week. 

For example, Britain completed the world’s largest trial of the four-day week, enlisted more than 60 companies and just fewer than 3,000 workers to feedback on the “100:80:100” working model: 100% pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% productivity. 

The results were a 65% reduction in the number of sick days, maintained or improved productivity at most businesses, and a 57% decline in the likelihood that an employee would quit, dramatically improving job retention. But the pilot was just for six months.

The 4 Day Week Global report examined workers in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Ireland........

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