OAKLAND, Calif., November 29, 2023—New research from the world’s most trusted human capital advisory firm, The Josh Bersin Company, undertaken in collaboration with Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence, shows that a 4-day work week is now possible and can work well if CHROs and leadership teams take conscious steps to redesign work and ask employees to embrace productivity and time-saving techniques.

Anticipating multiple benefits like increased productivity and reduced employee burnout, the 4-day work week is an idea many organizations have been experimenting with in trials dating back to the 1970s. But, says the study, a new model has emerged: one which focuses on productivity and work redesign. The research points to four important innovations:

• Measuring work through outcomes instead of more time-based metrics
• Introducing practices to boost employee focus and productivity
• And leaders fostering a new approach to flexibility and employee autonomy

The research shows that these practices make the 4-day work week into a powerful and practical model, one that not only boosts employee experience but also often increases overall company productivity.

The findings show that true “work time reduction,” coupled with these practices, outperforms models which focus on condensing 40 hours of work into four days. Reduced hour work schedules for the same level of pay, when coupled with work redesign, is a much more powerful approach, the report found.
The findings have emerged from a joint Josh Bersin Company research study with The Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence, which also shares critical insights from co-authors Joe O’Connor, CEO & Co-Founder at Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence, and John Trougakos, Professor of Management at the University of Toronto.