The Stats Guy: Have I been wrong in dismissing gen X’s dirty fantasy?
There’s always been scepticism about gen X’s dirty little fantasy: The four-day work week. But we need to confirm or dismiss any hunch the model is delusional, writes Simon Kuestenmacher.
Gen X (born 1964-81) is approaching the leadership stage of their careers and occupies many of the top jobs in government and industry.
Growing up, gen X was the first generation to have in dual-income households at scale. They saw their parents working themselves to death and figured there must be a better approach. This leads us to gen X’s dirty little fantasy: The four-day work week.
As a demographer, I’ve always been sceptical about the four-day workweek. My main concern about Australia’s future is that we’re running out of workers, as I described in a previous column. When companies can’t find staff, the default response is to work your remaining staff to death. That’s the opposite of a four-day work week. To me, the idea of only working four days while being paid for five days sounded delusional.
As your friendly neighbourhood Stats Guy, I will, however, need data to confirm or dismiss my hunch that the four-day work week is delusional.
Carefully monitored trials of the four-day week have been run around the world. Let’s look at the findings. The trials that I looked at offered genuinely shorter weeks with the same pay. You literally get paid 100 per cent but clock in only 80 per cent of your previous hours.
In most cases, productivity remained stable or improved. Far from working employees to death, companies have found ways to reorganise, cut inefficiencies, and get more done in less time.
The office trials everyone’s talking about
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Britain ran the world’s largest four-day work week trial in 2022, involving 61 companies across multiple sectors. The results were remarkable: Nearly half the firms said productivity improved, another 46 per cent said it stayed the same, and only a handful reported any decline.
At the end of the six months, 92 per cent of participating companies kept the four-day week, and a year later almost 90 per cent were still doing it. Employees reported lower stress, fewer sick days, and far better work-life balance.
Microsoft Japan’s experiment in 2019 showed just how dramatic the gains can be. By simply giving staff Fridays off, output per worker jumped by 40 per cent. Other firms, like Unilever in New Zealand and Perpetual Guardian in the financial sector, found the four-day week so successful that they made it permanent.
‘So excited to kick off the four-day week pilot.’ Image: Pressure Drop Brewing
But what about factories and warehouses?
Office-based knowledge work is one thing. As a knowledge worker myself, I know that sometimes writing this weekly column takes me only a few hours and sometimes it takes more than a day. I can understand that with a setup that optimises my focus I can research and write faster. Now, I wanted to see evidence from the shop floor. Surprisingly enough it wasn’t hard to find case studies here too.
Advanced RV, a small US factory building customised motorhomes, shifted to a four-day, 32-hour week in 2022. At first management expected profits to take a hit. Instead, productivity quickly rebounded to about 95 to 100 per cent of previous levels, and staff were less stressed and more focused. The company is still running on a four-day week today.
In Britain, a London brewery joined the national trial. It kept the beer flowing five days a week by rotating staff, so everyone worked four days, but production never stopped. It hit all its targets, fatigue levels fell, and the company has permanently adopted the model.
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Even in large-scale heavy industry, the four-day week has precedent. It’s a bit of an outlier but since it’s a story from my birth country of Germany I must still quickly retell it: In the 1990s, Volkswagen even ran a four-day week for 100,000 staff to save jobs during an economic downturn. That version came with a small pay cut but showed that even heavy industry can operate on fewer days.
When does the four-day work week fail?
The main challenges show up in sectors that need round-the-clock coverage. A Swedish hospital found shorter shifts boosted health and care quality, but required extra staff, making it too expensive to sustain. In British pilot, about 8 per cent of firms didn’t continue because they struggled with scheduling or noticed productivity slipping once the initial discipline wore off.
The small number of failed trials that I could find show that the model isn’t a silver bullet. Obviously, only companies that are at least open to the idea of a four-day week would have signed up to a trial. In many jobs you are simply paid for your presence – a security guard can’t guard your site for five days in four days. A disability carer must be present to help you out – their presence is the whole point.
One Swedish hospital found the concept didn’t work for nursing. Photo: Shutterstock
Why does it work?
The research suggests that the four-day work week succeeds not because people magically work 20 per cent faster, but because it pushes organisations to cut waste and sharpen focus. Companies spend less time in meetings, streamline workflows, and automate repetitive tasks. Employees, knowing they have less time, concentrate harder and multitask less.
At the same time, having a regular extra day off reduces fatigue and sick leave, so workers show up fresher, healthier and less error-prone. Motivation also rises as people value the shorter week and want to “give back” in commitment and energy. This results in lower staff turnover – something that I consider as extremely important for businesses in times of a prolonged skills shortage.
Importantly, trials all maintained the same output expectations. The research commonly talks about the “100-80-100” model (100 per cent pay, 80 per cent hours, 100 per cent productivity), which aligns everyone on sustaining results. Whether in offices or factories, the mix of cutting inefficiencies, improving processes, and tapping into a more rested, motivated workforce has been enough to keep productivity steady or even lift it.
A rethink for Australia
Having cited research findings of four-day week trials so far, I begrudgingly accept the model as a potential option for quite a few industries in Australia to improve the wellbeing and mental health of our workforce: The four-day work week won’t solve every workforce problem, but in many industries it’s a proven way to get the same results with healthier, happier workers.
At a time when Australia is short on staff, we can’t afford to ignore a model that makes scarce workers more productive and more likely to stay.
Simon Kuestenmacher is a co-founder of The Demographics Group. His columns, media commentary and public speaking focus on current socio-demographic trends and how these impact Australia. His podcast, Demographics Decoded, explores the world through the demographic lens. Follow Simon on Twitter (X), Facebook, or LinkedIn.
