The concept of a 4 day work week has grabbed the attention of many, with many workers and employers vouching for its alleged benefits. The concept of working 4 days a week is not a modern invention but actually dates back quite a bit. It is also not the only form of unconventional work schedules out there, putting into question the very necessity of the traditional 5-day 9-to-5. 

Economists globally from 1928 predicted a 15-hour workweek within the span of a century, whereas a Senate subcommittee in 1965 predicted a 14-hour workweek by 2000. Despite being praised for lessening burnout and raising inequality on the workplace, a four-day workweek has as of yet not taken hold on a large scale. 

Microsoft implemented a similar concept in Japan, leading to a 40% jump in productivity. With offices closed on Fridays in August and meetings limited, employees allegedly became more productive than the previous August. We can still go back to the 1920s and 30s, with legendary Henry Ford allegedly decreased workweeks from 60 to 40 hours. 

A 30-hour work week bill was nearly passed in 1933 as an alternative to unemployment during the Depression. The bill failed due to opponents calling it Communist, with hours increasing and averages hovering around 40 hours after the Depression. The overall movement for shorter hours started to dwindle. 

Environmentalists have also suggested that working less could be useful to reducing climate change. This is because workers would consume fewer resources during commutes. This was noted in Microsoft’s case wherein electricity use decreased by 25%. More movements in the 21st century, rethinking 9-to-5 5-day weeks received somewhat of a revival.

So why hasn’t the four-day work week taken hold across the board? Apart from having to be assessed on a case-by-case basis for all businesses, adapting to a new way of work after having already designed it around the traditional work week is no easy task. Shifts might also have to be extended throughout the day which might actually have a reverse effect and increase worker pressures on a daily basis. 

It also impacts holidays are taken. With employers having the freedom to set their own rules on holiday, switching to a four-day week and keeping the standard hours, employee holiday allowance won’t change. However, if hours are in fact reduced, the entire schedule has to be recalculated. 

The work week revolution is one among many other attempts to humanise workers on the work place. It goes hand in hand with other initiatives for Human Resources and other work place shake ups designed to make the employment experience, if not more enjoyable, at least more bearable. Like many things however, employers and businesses need to assess whether it is right for their work place as no one size fits all. 

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