141 companies in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Ireland, and the UK conducted a study on the 4-day work model with the participation of a total of 2,896 employees.
Prior to the research, each company prepared for about 8 weeks to rearrange workflow to maintain productivity.
During this period, time-wasting practices such as inefficient meetings were reduced. Two weeks before the trial began and 6 months later, the same surveys on mental health and job satisfaction were conducted on employees.
At the end of the study, the majority of employees working with this model reported that their job performance increased, their stress and burnout levels decreased, and overall they felt better.
Researchers, considering that the initial impact of the 4-day work system may decrease over time, collected data 12 months after the start of the trial. The results showed that the satisfaction levels of employees continued to remain high.
Researcher Wen Fan stated, “We thought that when employees work faster to achieve the same productivity, their well-being may deteriorate. However, what we found was that the stress levels decreased.”
