July 22, 2025
LinkedIn Sales Solutions/UNSPLASH.COM
Reducing the 40-hour work week improves job performance and workers' well-being, a new study says.
A four-day work week with reduced hours is beneficial to both employees and employers, a new study shows.
Less time on the clock, while still getting full pay, was associated with improvements in workers' well-being, especially in terms of lower rates of burnout and higher levels of job satisfaction, according to the research published Monday in Nature Human Behavior.The trial compared nearly 3,000 employees at 141 businesses and organizations who adopted a four-day work week with nearly 300 employees at 12 companies who stuck with a five-day schedule. The study was conducted between 2021 and 2024 in the United States, Canada, Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. Researchers characterized the five-day work week as equating to 40 hours.
“Increases in perceived work ability — at both company and individual levels — indicate that the work reorganization process opened up by four-day weeks has led to profound changes in the job experience itself, improving workers’ individual and collective sense of performing their jobs well,” researchers wrote.
Measures of employees' mental and physical health also showed improvement with the four-day work week.
In particular, reduced work hours resulted in improved sleep and reduced fatigue, contributing to better job effectiveness. A reduction in work hours also enabled employees to maintain better control of their own schedules and increased people's exercise levels, according to the study.
Researchers acknowledged that the results of the study may have been impacted by the fact that the companies who agreed to reduced work hours were already interested in implementing the changes, and that these companies might have been more apt to be supportive of workers' well-being in general.
More studies involving a variety of organizations are needed to see if the results of this trial have wider implications, the researchers wrote.
