4-day workweek gets boost from UK study

What happened?

"The four-day workweek is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving," NPR News said Wednesday. In a new study of 61 British companies that began a six-month trial of the four-day workweek in 2022, 54 companies are still using the truncated schedule and 31 have made it permanent.

Who said what?

The study, from the think tank Autonomy, shows the benefits of a four-day week are "real and long-lasting," and "in some cases have even continued to improve," said Boston College sociologist and project researcher Juliet Schor. "Physical and mental health and work-life balance are significantly better than at six months. Burnout and life satisfaction improvements held steady."

The commentary

"Companies also reap the benefits of reduced work hours" through increased productivity and big savings from decreased burnout and absenteeism, Victoria Wells said at the Financial Post. Unlike "mindfulness training, meditation apps and even on-site yoga," shorter workweeks actually improve employee wellness.

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What next?

"Dramatic shifts in the pandemic-era workplace" turned the "once unfathomable" dream of a four-day workweek into reality for some workers, Elizabeth Bennett said at BBC, and now generative artificial intelligence could "accelerate the adoption."