The Four Day Work Week - When Less is . . . Complicated

Buckle up buttercups, we're diving into the panacea or peril of the four-day workweek. As always, we get to use our critical minds and decide for ourselves.  

SHOW NOTES

The five-day workweek is one of the the results of worker safer reforms in the 1930s.  As a society, we concluded and adopted laws that provided greater compensation for workers when they worked in excess of 40 hours in a week.   This was consistent with what has been a 100 year trend of working less - at least until the 1970s—when we started working more. This working more may explain the growing number of companies and countries (aka Iceland) that have adopted the four day work week,  

Let’s start with Iceland—the poster child for all kinds of worker and gender rights.  After a wildly successful pilot starting in 2015, 90% of its workforce now enjoys a 36-hour week, full pay, and more time for fjords, knitting, or just plain breathing. The best part? Productivity didn’t drop. In some sectors, it rose, as did mental health and happiness. It sounds like employee satisfaction and improved mental health for the win!!

Here in the U.S., four-day weeks are gaining ground. In 2024, 22% of workers said their employers offer one (up from 14% in 2022). But not all 4-day weeks are created equal. Some compress 40 hours into four 10-hour marathons, while others reduce hours and pay and, the best for employees, reduced hours without a reduction in pay. 

Still, it’s not all sunshine and extra Sundays. Critics warn of scheduling chaos, uneven workloads, and—gasp—selection bias in studies. And let’s be honest, if the culture still glorifies overwork, slapping on a shorter week won’t fix burnout.

So what now? Tune in for the full scoop—history, data, debates, and what it takes to truly work less and live more.

GOOD READS

Iceland Embraced a 4-Day Workweek in 2019 – Now, Nearly Six Years On, All Gen Z Forecasts Have Materialized

Days of Work over a Half Century: The Rise of the Four-Day Workweek - Daniel S. Hamermesh, Jeff E. Biddle, 2025

4 Day Week Global

Challenging The Hype: Why A 4-Day Work Week Won’t Solve Burnout

A Guide to Implementing the 4-Day Workweek

The rise of the 4-day workweek