Boston — Results of a new trial support the theory that employees benefit mentally and physically from a four-day workweek.
Boston College researchers used data from nearly 2,900 employees from 141 organizations across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The employees underwent a pre-trial work reorganization designed to improve efficiency and collaboration, followed by the six-month trial. As a control, 12 of the organizations’ workers remained on a five-day schedule during the trial.
Participants who transferred to the abbreviated workweek schedule (with no cut in pay) reported less burnout and improved job satisfaction, “a pattern not observed in the 12 control companies.”
The researchers point to three key factors that help explain this difference:
- Fewer sleep issues
- Decreased fatigue
- Improved self-reported work ability
“The results indicate that income-preserving, four-day workweeks are an effective organizational intervention for enhancing workers’ well-being,” the researchers write.
Previous studies have come to the same conclusion, with one showing that nearly 90% of organizations participating in a four-day workweek pilot program decided to continue with that schedule a year later.
The most recent study was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
