Four-day workweek

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: A four-day workweek offers employees a better work-life balance, which translates into better mental health and a happier workforce.
- Pro 2: A four-day workweek means employees and companies can focus on essential tasks rather than those of questionable value.
- Pro 3: A four-day workweek is financially beneficial to companies.
Cons
- Con 1: A four-day workweek increases pressure on employees, causing more, not less, physical and mental burnout.
- Con 2: A fixed workweek of fewer hours is not the answer—workers want workplace flexibility and a quality work experience.
- Con 3: A four-day workweek is not only impossible in many industries but will deepen the divide between white-collar and blue-collar workers.
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Stacked wooden blocks reading 4-day work week with a clock on top, a potted succulent to the left, and an orange pen to the right, all against an orange background.

Industrial Revolution

Dangerous child labor

Assembly line workers in caps build cars inside the Ford Motor Company factory in Dearborn, Michigan, with partially assembled vehicles moving through the industrial workspace.

Four-day workweek: Media

Should a four-day workweek be adopted?

Videos

Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

How the revolution changed culture and work.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

Stacked wooden blocks reading 4-day work week with a clock on top, a potted succulent to the left, and an orange pen to the right, all against an orange background.

Should a four-day workweek be adopted?

Four-day workweek.

© Rochu_2008/stock.adobe.com

Dangerous child labor

Dangerous child labor

Young boys working on a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-nclc-01581)

Assembly line workers in caps build cars inside the Ford Motor Company factory in Dearborn, Michigan, with partially assembled vehicles moving through the industrial workspace.

Henry Ford popularized the five-day workweek.

Assembly line workers inside the Ford Motor Company factory at Dearborn, Michigan,...

Hulton Archive/Getty Images