Episode 76: The four-day week

Would you like to do 80% of your current job but for 100% of the pay? Well, of course you would. But would it be good for the economy? It’s been suggested that companies who move to four-day working weeks have happier, less frazzled employees and no noticeable loss in productivity. Some people even claim their productivity goes up!

In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart explore the theory and the evidence on the four-day week. There are some ridiculously overblown claims here, but is there any realistic stuff left over?

The Studies Show is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine. As of last week there’s a new issue of the magazine, and it’s full of the usual mix of remarkable historical, technological, and scientific topics (and sometimes all three together). Find it all completely free at worksinprogress.co.

Show notes

* Pedro Gomes’ book Friday is the New Saturday

* The Chinese city considering giving everyone Friday afternoons off

* One of a few pro-4-day-week websites

* 2019 Guardian report claiming that Microsoft Japan increased productivity by 40% after implementing the 4-day-week…

* …and a World Economic Forum report claiming the same thing…

* …debunked by Microsoft Japan’s own press release

* Henry Ford: Why I Favor Five Days’ Work With Six Days’ Pay (from 1926)

* Evidence that after a certain point, extra hours become counterproductive

* 2023 UK trial into the 4-day week

* Four-year trial of the 4-day week in Iceland

* 4-day week trial (with control group) in Portugal

Credits

We’re grateful to Prof. Pedro Gomes for talking to us for this episode. The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.

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