A 4-day workweek could boost productivity and wellbeing, says economist. But why won't we try it?

Time of India

4 days ago

In a world still recovering from the psychological whiplash of the pandemic, the dream of a better
work-life balance
no longer feels like a utopia — it feels necessary.
Juliet Schor
, a Boston College economist and sociologist, has been advocating this shift for decades. Her latest work as lead researcher with 4 Day Week, a global initiative studying the impact of
reduced working hours
, suggests the idea may finally be catching on.
Speaking to CNBC Make It, Schor recounted how her 1992 bestseller The Overworked American first sparked debate about overemployment. But it wasn't until COVID-19 forced a radical reevaluation of daily life that serious momentum began building. 'People realized it was more important to be living the life they wanted… not one of overworking, stress, and burnout,' she said.
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The 4-Day Formula: Less Stress, More Success
So what happens when companies trim the workweek to four days — without slashing pay? According to Schor's latest book Four Days a Week, which compiles insights from pilots across 245 organizations and 8,700+ employees globally, the results are not just promising — they're transformational.
Participants in the pilot reported better work-life balance, less stress, and improved mental and physical health. 'The big jump in self-reported productivity is striking,' Schor told CNBC Make It. 'People feel more on top of their work and their lives. They're not coming into Mondays drained — they're eager, focused, and satisfied.'
Even employers had reasons to cheer: productivity stayed stable or even rose, profits ticked upward, and employee turnover practically vanished.
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— TEDTalks (@TEDTalks)
So Why Isn't Everyone Doing It?
Despite the evidence, the five-day workweek remains stubbornly intact in most companies. Schor attributes this resistance to one key issue: control.
'Giving people more time back feels like a loss of control to some managements,' she explains. 'It's not about performance — it's about power.'
Add to that the fear of being seen as radical or deviating from the norm, and many businesses choose to stick with the status quo. However, Fridays, once sacrosanct, are already evolving. As Schor notes, most companies informally allow for 'Summer Fridays' or shorter hours at week's end. The four-day shift may simply be formalizing what's already happening.
Will AI Do What Policy Can't?
Enter Bill Gates — tech visionary and co-founder of Microsoft — who recently made waves on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon by predicting a two-day workweek within a decade, driven by the explosive rise of artificial intelligence.
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Gates believes AI will soon be able to perform the bulk of tasks currently handled by humans. 'It's kind of profound,' he said. 'It brings so much change.' That change, he imagines, could free up time for creativity, caregiving, and rest — if managed ethically.
Schor echoes this possibility, suggesting that AI-induced productivity gains could justify shorter hours without sacrificing pay. 'We can either lay off people en masse or reduce hours per job,' she says. 'Giving people more free time, while preserving income, is the smarter path.'
Between burnout metrics that remain stubbornly high and rapid technological shifts, the traditional workweek may be on its last legs. But what replaces it — and who benefits — remains the central debate.
The vision is tantalizing: a world where AI supports rather than supplants, where a four-day week is the norm, not the exception, and where people work to live, not live to work.
As Juliet Schor reminds us, 'We're already on this path. The question now is, how fast can we walk it?'