Burwood, Australia — A recent four-day workweek trial involving 15 Australian companies saw all but one still operating under the model after two years.
A team of Australian researchers asked the organizations to implement a 100:80:100 four-day workweek model: workers get 100% of their normal pay for 80% of their normal hours in exchange for maintaining 100% of their previous output. The firms operated across a wide range of industries, from logistics and property management to health care and publishing.
When asked to rate the success of the model after the two-year trial, the organizations gave it an average success rate of 8.5 out 10. Six of the companies experienced an increase in productivity while the remainder indicated that it stayed “about the same.”
As for the firm that abandoned the model, “timing was a big factor in that decision,” according to a Deakin University press release, “as it was already undergoing a period of significant change at the time of its trial.”
The researchers note that the four-day workweek is often promoted as a way improve productivity, “but interestingly, six of the 15 companies we interviewed expressly said their primary motivation was to reduce burnout.” They went on to point out a 2025 survey that found that half of Australian workers experience burnout, “with the country’s young people and parents most at risk.”
They said they plan to conduct a follow-up study with the same companies “within the next few years.”
The study was published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
