The Truth About the Four-Day Workweek, From People Who Have Tried It

Jennifer Newman’s

previous employer, a large advertising agency, adopted a four-day workweek during the pandemic. The goal was for employees to work four eight-hour days, but she said most people had to put in longer hours to make their deadlines.

“I am a bit skeptical of all the supposed employee benefits,” she said. “It was the same amount of work crammed into four days instead of five.”

Some employees in professions such as Ms. Newman’s might find it difficult to manage their workloads on a shortened schedule, and it can be almost impossible for workers in consumer-facing roles. 

“It’s tough to do with the service business,” said

Mike Groves,

chief executive officer of Federal Lock & Safe in Arlington, Va. 

Mr. Groves has found another solution for his workers to have more work-life balance. For teams that aren’t in the field answering customer calls, the company has adopted a seven-hour workday. Employees arrive at 6 a.m. and leave around 1 p.m. The shorter day has improved retention rates as well as productivity.

“If you treat them like adults, people respond,” Mr. Groves said.

Still, he remains firm that the company needs to be open five days a week. “Urgent ‘repair it now’ customer problems just don’t like to take Fridays off,” he said. 

Chet Guardino’s

experience bears this out. Mr. Guardino did a trial of a four-and-1/2 day workweek at his company, Lexon Medical Management, a billing-service provider based in Delray Beach, Fla. 

“Productivity went up across the board,” he said, noting that the number of insurance claims processed per person increased when employees were given Friday afternoons off. 

Brian McNaboe,

an adviser at Harvard Business School, also found that efficiency and effectiveness went up with a shorter week. In his previous role as chief technology officer at Volt Athletics, a Seattle startup that provides personal training virtually, the executive team successfully adopted “Flex Fridays” where employees can choose to work or not work on Fridays.

“The leadership team expected that it would be temporary,” Mr. McNaboe said. “It was so successful from a productivity point of view—and incredibly popular—that we decided to make it permanent. It became and remains a key recruiting advantage.”

For workers in some sectors, the shortened week is more of a headache than it’s worth.

Sean Collier,

a regional government hydrologist based in Las Vegas, has worked a four-day, 10-hour schedule for the past 15 years. He has found that the shorter week isn’t worth the longer days.

“I’ve missed a lot of dinners and my kids’ extracurricular activities due to [my] schedule,” he said. “It’s a double-edged sword for me now. I like having that Friday off, but know I would have a better work-life balance if I worked five eight-hour days.”

Many readers have written to The Wall Street Journal over the past two years to say that time is a poor way of measuring value. Output, they argue, should be the only metric that matters. Many leaders feel that hours are an important part of measuring output.

Roy Eriksson,

president and CEO of Eriksson Technologies, an engineering and design firm, and Eriksson Software, both based in Tampa, Fla., said it’s hard to get away from measuring work in hours. Salary and productivity have to be coupled, he said, and hours worked is the current proxy for that.

“You can’t just arbitrarily cut the amount of time employees work,” he said. “You have to translate it from hours worked to productivity needed to pay for the salary and benefits package.” 

Write to Gretchen Tarrant at [email protected]

Jennifer Newman’s

previous employer, a large advertising agency, adopted a four-day workweek during the pandemic. The goal was for employees to work four eight-hour days, but she said most people had to put in longer hours to make their deadlines.

“I am a bit skeptical of all the supposed employee benefits,” she said. “It was the same amount of work crammed into four days instead of five.”

Some employees in professions such as Ms. Newman’s might find it difficult to manage their workloads on a shortened schedule, and it can be almost impossible for workers in consumer-facing roles. 

“It’s tough to do with the service business,” said

Mike Groves,

chief executive officer of Federal Lock & Safe in Arlington, Va. 

Mr. Groves has found another solution for his workers to have more work-life balance. For teams that aren’t in the field answering customer calls, the company has adopted a seven-hour workday. Employees arrive at 6 a.m. and leave around 1 p.m. The shorter day has improved retention rates as well as productivity.

“If you treat them like adults, people respond,” Mr. Groves said.

Still, he remains firm that the company needs to be open five days a week. “Urgent ‘repair it now’ customer problems just don’t like to take Fridays off,” he said. 

Chet Guardino’s

experience bears this out. Mr. Guardino did a trial of a four-and-1/2 day workweek at his company, Lexon Medical Management, a billing-service provider based in Delray Beach, Fla. 

“Productivity went up across the board,” he said, noting that the number of insurance claims processed per person increased when employees were given Friday afternoons off. 

Brian McNaboe,

an adviser at Harvard Business School, also found that efficiency and effectiveness went up with a shorter week. In his previous role as chief technology officer at Volt Athletics, a Seattle startup that provides personal training virtually, the executive team successfully adopted “Flex Fridays” where employees can choose to work or not work on Fridays.

“The leadership team expected that it would be temporary,” Mr. McNaboe said. “It was so successful from a productivity point of view—and incredibly popular—that we decided to make it permanent. It became and remains a key recruiting advantage.”

For workers in some sectors, the shortened week is more of a headache than it’s worth.

Sean Collier,

a regional government hydrologist based in Las Vegas, has worked a four-day, 10-hour schedule for the past 15 years. He has found that the shorter week isn’t worth the longer days.

“I’ve missed a lot of dinners and my kids’ extracurricular activities due to [my] schedule,” he said. “It’s a double-edged sword for me now. I like having that Friday off, but know I would have a better work-life balance if I worked five eight-hour days.”

Many readers have written to The Wall Street Journal over the past two years to say that time is a poor way of measuring value. Output, they argue, should be the only metric that matters. Many leaders feel that hours are an important part of measuring output.

Roy Eriksson,

president and CEO of Eriksson Technologies, an engineering and design firm, and Eriksson Software, both based in Tampa, Fla., said it’s hard to get away from measuring work in hours. Salary and productivity have to be coupled, he said, and hours worked is the current proxy for that.

“You can’t just arbitrarily cut the amount of time employees work,” he said. “You have to translate it from hours worked to productivity needed to pay for the salary and benefits package.” 

Write to Gretchen Tarrant at [email protected]