Four-Day Workweek Study Finds Mental Health Benefits Across Six Countries

Recent extensive studies and trials across multiple countries reveal that transitioning to a four-day workweek without a reduction in pay significantly improves employee well-being, including mental and physical health, burnout reduction, and job satisfaction, while maintaining or enhancing productivity. The largest study, involving nearly 3,000 employees from 141 companies across six countries, found that workers experienced less stress and better sleep, without feeling pressured to compress five days of work into four. Microsoft’s 2019 trial in Japan demonstrated a nearly 40% productivity boost and increased employee satisfaction, although newer data indicates challenges related to digital burnout from blurred work-life boundaries in remote settings. Experts like Dr. Tiffany De Sousa Machado emphasize that the four-day week challenges the outdated five-day model, promoting sustainability, deeper engagement, and human connection over mere productivity metrics. Organizations voluntarily redesigned work processes before trials to ensure efficiency, highlighting that the four-day workweek represents a fundamental reimagining of work-life balance and employee value. These findings suggest a growing global momentum to adopt shorter workweeks as a means to improve quality of life and workplace resilience.