"Doesn't a Four-Day Workweek Increase Stress?"...Study Finds Surprising Results

Researchers: "Four-Day Workweek Without Wage Cuts"
Concerns About "Work Speed Pressure and Health Risks" When Reducing Hours
Study Finds Reduced Burnout and Improved Physical Health
Positive Impact on Job Satisfaction
U.S. Research Team Analyzes 141 Companies Across Six Countries
"Over 90% of Participating Companies Maintained Shorter Workweeks"

A four-day workweek without wage cuts has been shown to have a positive impact on reducing employee burnout, improving physical health, and increasing job satisfaction.

A four-day workweek without wage cuts has been shown to have a positive impact on reducing employee burnout, improving physical health, and increasing job satisfaction. Photo by Getty Images

According to a paper published on July 21 (local time) in the scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour, a research team led by Juliet Schor and Wen Fan at Boston University conducted a four-day workweek experiment involving 2,896 employees from 141 companies across six countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland. The results showed that overall job satisfaction and both mental and physical health improved. This experiment is the largest study on the four-day workweek published to date.

Before the experiment, the researchers were concerned that reducing working hours might actually increase employees' stress. They worried that the pressure to complete the same amount of work in less time each week could harm employees' health. However, the results were the opposite. Wen Fan, the sociology professor at Boston College who led the study, stated, "Employees' stress levels actually decreased."

Before the experiment, the research team was concerned that reducing working hours might actually increase employees' stress. They feared that the pressure to complete the same amount of work in less time each week could harm employees' health. However, the results were the opposite. Pixabay

Before fully implementing the four-day workweek, participating companies restructured their work processes for about eight weeks, including reducing unnecessary meetings, and aimed to maintain previous productivity with only 80% of the total working hours. Afterward, the workweek was reduced to four days for six months. Employee well-being was measured before and after the experiment through questions such as "Do you find your work irritating?" and "How is your current mental health?"

The results showed that employees reported higher job satisfaction and improved mental health compared to before the four-day workweek was implemented. Both reductions in working hours at the organizational and individual levels were associated with improved well-being, and the improvement was greater when individual working hours were significantly reduced. The key factors mediating the relationship with improved well-being were: ▲self-reported improvement in work performance, ▲reduction in sleep problems, and ▲decrease in fatigue.

The four-day workweek has been a system that companies have hesitated to adopt due to concerns about decreased productivity. Although this study did not directly measure the overall productivity of the company, it suggested the possibility that employees worked more focused during working hours, leading to increased work efficiency.

The four-day workweek has been a system that companies have hesitated to adopt due to concerns about decreased productivity. Although this study did not directly measure the overall productivity of the companies, it suggested the possibility that employees worked more focused during working hours, leading to increased work efficiency. Pedro Gomes, an economist at Birkbeck, University of London, explained, "Employees who are well-rested make fewer mistakes and work with greater concentration." However, he also pointed out that more quantitative analysis on productivity is needed.

Professor Fan explained, "More than 90% of participating companies decided to maintain the four-day workweek even after the experiment," adding, "This means that concerns about decreased productivity were not significant."

The research team also collected data at the 12-month mark to check whether the positive effects would diminish once the novelty of the system wore off, but well-being indicators remained high.

However, since all participating companies volunteered for the experiment, there is a possibility that the effects of applying the four-day workweek to all companies may have been overestimated. In addition, since all results were collected through self-reporting, employees may have given positive responses out of a desire to keep the extra day off. The researchers stated that follow-up studies using random assignment are needed.

Meanwhile, research continues to show that the four-day workweek has a positive impact on work-life balance and work efficiency. According to the results of a four-day workweek experiment conducted by the UK civic organization "4 Day Week Foundation" with 17 companies from November last year to April this year, shorter working hours helped improve corporate profitability. In particular, Brandpipe, a software company headquartered in London, saw its sales increase by about 130%.