The four-day week is coming. The five-day working week once seemed unthinkable until business leaders proved the economics. This story is from the World Economic Forum. There are some dodgy claims about AI ramping up productivity but nonetheless, the labour force is changing.
In 1926, Henry Ford adopted the eight-hour weekday and two-day weekend model after finding that shorter hours improved productivity.
In 2023, public conversation about a four-day work week reached its peak, with more companies than ever rolling out trials. Two years later, is the four-day work week within grasp for all?
The four-day work week refers to global experiments that reduce hours without reducing pay. The most common model, known as the 100:80:100 principle, promises 100% pay for 80% of the time while maintaining 100% output.
After global pilots in 2022–2023 drew headlines, momentum slowed. Yet in 2025, calls for shorter working hours remain strong: more than 2.7 million UK workers – almost 11% of the workforce – now report working a four-day week.
Since 2019, trials in more than 10 countries have been coordinated by the 4 Day Week Global, and the results are hard to ignore: 92% of participating companies kept the policy, citing lower stress, reduced sick leave and stable or higher revenues.
This shift to reduced working hours, with no change in pay, is playing out in both private sector companies and at the governmental level. Here’s a snapshot from across the globe:
Microsoft Japan recorded a 40% productivity gain in a 2019 pilot that closed offices on Fridays and halved meeting times – and they continue to offer this to their employees to this day.
Social media management platform Buffer is one of the few fully remote companies to offer a four-day work week, citing that productivity increased by 22%, job applications rose 88%, and absenteeism decreased by 66% as a result of the switch.
Governments are testing it too. Iceland’s public sector trail helped secure widespread rights to shorter hours. Dubai’s government reported employee satisfaction near 98% in its pilot, extending the four-day trial over the summer period for government employees. Tokyo implemented a four-day working week option earlier this year to encourage women’s workforce participation.
The pattern is clear: productivity holds steady, wellbeing improves and talent attraction rises, but only when the rollout is deliberate.
Access to generative AI may increase output and reduce drudge work, especially for less-experienced employees.
A recent OECD study found that individuals who work in customer support, software development or consulting have seen productivity levels increase from anywhere between 5%-25%. Further to this, McKinsey research puts the long-term AI opportunity at $4.4 trillion in added productivity growth.
Turnover, burnout and sick leave are costly for employers worldwide.
A well-executed four-day schedule can cut those costs while protecting performance, while AI offers the chance to translate technological progress into human benefit. But, doing so will require intentional leadership, clear metrics and a willingness to redesign how work gets done.