The 4-day work week is an idea that has been around for a while, but it seems like now is the time for it to make a comeback. With the pandemic of covid-19 showing us just how outdated our working habits are, more and more people are starting to see the benefits of a shorter workweek. Not only would this give employees more time to spend with their families and loved ones, but it would also lead to increased productivity and creativity in the workplace.

Currently, in the UK, there is a trial campaign being run from June to December by around 70 businesses that are testing out the four-day work week with no loss of pay. The program is being led by 4-day week global alongside Cambridge and Oxford University and the think tank Autonomy. The range of businesses involved in the program range from robot manufacturing companies to Fish and chip shops and care homes. Groups like the 4-day week campaign are gaining more and more traction, and it seems like it's only a matter of time until the four-day work week becomes the new norm. It is not just the UK that has been testing this idea, recently Iceland made headlines when their government announced plans to trial a four-day work week in their country with results that showed a significant increase in employee productivity.

‍So Why should we move to a 4-day work week?

‍The idea for a 4-day work week to some may seem unachievable, however back in 1926 Henry Ford announced that his staff would begin working only 40 hours a week, a move quite shocking at the time when previously people had been working 80-100 hour work weeks. For Ford the idea was simple, by reducing the working week his staff would have more time with their families and be able to spend their wages on Ford products, thus increasing demand and profits. The move also had other benefits such as increased employee productivity, creativity and engagement.

Henry Ford, The creator of five day work weeks

The benefits of the 4 day work week can be broken down into 5 categories:

1- The employee will have a better work-life balance, they will get to spend more time with their families to enjoy some leisure time and carry out their tasks and personal admin, often 2 days is not enough to get everything done. Giving more time to rest will also help them stay healthy and reset before returning to work. This will also reduce the chance of accidents at work that are more likely with overworked tired workers.

2-The employers benefit from higher productivity and performance from their staff Henley Business School study in 2021 estimated that UK businesses would save a combined £104 billion a year if a four-day week was implemented across the entire workforce. On top of this, any company that is among the first to offer shorter work weeks are likely to retain its staff and attract some of the top talents that are attracted by the idea of shorter hours and less stressful working conditions.

3-The economy also benefits from shorter work weeks, similar to the idea that ford had, if people are at work constantly then they are not spending money. A shorter work week would allow people to go out and shop, not just for essential shopping but for leisure as well. On top of this with free time, people may engage more with local tourism which can boost local communities.

4-Society as a whole would benefit as people would be in better health mentally and physically, and it will put less strain on the health service and allow time for people to receive any help they do need. Communities will also benefit from people being at home, where they can engage with their neighbours and help grow relationships.

5-The environment will also benefit, research has shown that a four-day week could reduce the UK's carbon footprint by 127 million tonnes per year, which is the equivalent of taking 27 million cars off the road.

Ford was not the first to think of a need for a shorter work week, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America had envisioned that a four-day work week would be enough to maintain production. Since Ford, the idea of a shorter work week has continued to be discussed by many including John Maynard Keynes who argued that by 2030 we would be working just 15 hours a week due to advances in technology making us more productive. Unfortunately, this has not come to fruition so far, with the majority of people around the world still working long hours, often at the expense of their personal lives.

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‍Why hasn't Keynes's vision become true?

‍If John Keynes and Benjamin Franklin could envision a shorter work week, why have we not managed to reach it yet? The idea of a shorter work week has always had sceptics, with many believing that it would lead to a loss in productivity, however as we have seen with Ford's experiment and more recent research this is not the case. A study by the New Economics Foundation found that a shorter work week could increase productivity by up to 48%. However, it's not just productivity that concerned people, many felt that if people worked fewer hours they would become bored, and within this boredom, there could be an increase in crime and mental health decline. Sebastian de Grazia, a Pulitzer prize-winning political scientist in the 1960s stated in his book "Of Time, Work and Leisure" that:

"A shorter work week would lead to surly, unruly behaviour as idle hands are the devil's workshop."

Though there were negative views, the vast majority of thinkers in the 1970s seemed to think a shorter work week was inevitable, so what changed?

In the 1980s the idea of shortening the working week came to an end, and the increase in productivity that new technology gave people did not result in more leisure time, instead, it led to creating more stuff. Consumption has taken the place of free time, and people now feel that they need to work more to consume more. In a paper written by Juliet Schor called "The Overworked American", she argues that:

"In the United States, working hours have risen steadily for the past two decades... The typical worker today puts in 160 hours a month more than his or her counterpart did in 1973."

The paper goes on to state that the average American worker is now working the equivalent of an extra month every year. So, if we are all working more, why do we feel like we have less free time? Schor argues that it is because our work has become more demanding and as a result, we are working longer hours, not necessarily because we want to but because we feel like we have to keep up.

The trend of working longer hours has continued into the 21st century, and according to the OECD, the average worker in member countries works around 2000 hours a year. This is around 400 hours more than what was considered full-time work in the 1970s.

‍What are the consequences of working long hours?

‍The World Health Organisation has classified working more than 55 hours a week as hazardous to your health, and there is a wealth of research to support this. A study of 600,000 people found that those who worked more than 55 hours a week had a 33% higher risk of stroke and a 13% higher risk of coronary heart disease.

Long work hours have also been linked to an increased risk of developing type-two diabetes, obesity, anxiety, and depression. Working long hours can also lead to social isolation as it leaves less time for friends and family. A study of 24,000 British workers found that those who worked more than 48 hours a week were 30% more likely to suffer from depression.

Many workers are suffering from burnout due to overworking

Modern research has also found that in the knowledge economy we find ourselves in today that even the 40-hour work week is too high, the average person can only really be productive for 6 hours a day, how often have you sat at work and from around 3 pm, you're sat their just waiting to go home or looking at the clock? Those extra 2 hours until you do go home are effectively wasted time for both you and your employer.

We have seen a recent trend of people leaving their jobs because they are unhappy with the long hours and demanding work culture often referred to as the great resignation. A recent study found that 60% of workers in the UK would like to leave their job if they could, with long hours and lack of work-life balance being the main reasons cited. There has also been an increase in what has been called "quiet quitting" in which people are not leaving their jobs, but instead only doing the roles that are included in their job description and not taking on any extra responsibilities. Many feel that there is little to no reward for working overtime or undertaking extra responsibilities so instead, they have refocused their attention on a better work-life balance.

‍So how do we get to a 4-day week?

‍A four-day work week might sound like a pipe dream, but it is possible, and some companies have already made the switch. In 2018, Microsoft Japan experimented with a four-day work week and found that productivity increased by 40%. The company also found that there was less need for office space and less electricity was used.

In the UK, the average worker works 37.0 hours a week, which is below the OECD average of 38.0 hours. This means that there is scope to cut down on work hours without affecting productivity. The conversation around the 4-day work week has already begun, and the current trials that are underway will help to provide valuable data that can encourage others to adopt a similar approach. But this idea needs the support of the political system if it hopes to become a reality, there are important changes that will need to be introduced, for example, a focus on education to not just prepare people for work but one that prepares them for all aspect of life and the communities we join.

There are many people today that argue for a shorter work week including people like Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian, and author of Utopia for Realists, who has been a long-time advocate of a shorter work week. Bregman believes that we should be working less to allow more time for leisure activities, which would lead to a happier and healthier population.

With more free time we can slow down and enjoy life

It is also something that requires the engagement of business leaders and companies if it is to become a reality. Businesses will need to look at how they can be productive with a shorter work week and what changes will need to be made to make this possible. They should engage with their staff to see what would work best for them.

What happens next depends on a lot of factors, do we want to consume less in return for more free time? will working less leave us bored or give us back our valuable time? No one on their deathbed has ever lain there with regrets about not doing overtime on a Saturday or wished they had made more spreadsheets. The challenge now is finding how to make work, work for us and the betterment of society, and the final question is what kind of 4-day week is best? currently many argue for either a 10 or 8-hour 4-day week, but since we have already highlighted the average person is only productive for 6 hours a day, perhaps the solution is a 24-hour work week over 4 days?

We will need to wait and see what the data from the current trials show us, but one thing is for sure, the way we work is changing, and it's time for a change.