The Case for a 4-Day Work Week | Juliet Schor | TED

The traditional approach to work needs a redesign, says economist Juliet Schor. She's leading four-day work week trials in countries like the US and Ireland, and the results so far have been overwhelmingly positive: from increased employer and customer satisfaction to revenue growth and lower turnover. Making the case for a four-day, 32-hour work week (with five days of pay), Schor explains how this model for the future of work could address major challenges like burnout and the climate crisis -- and shares how companies and governments could work together to make it a reality.

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[toni]

We should have done this twenty years ago. Thank you for finally dragging this into the light.

[madmartigan]

I work 4 day week and absolutely love it vs 5 day. I still work 40 hrs but having 3 days off feels like a mini vacation because you can make more plans

[tern]

I live in the UAE and they have implemented this and now we work 4 days a week with the same hours and I can promise you everything she said is absouletly true, I became more productive and more happy and I started having more time for my family and myself, and tbh during weekends that I didn't have much plans to do I started to miss my work and can't wait to start the week

[lazarusblackwell]

People want to work to live and not live to work.

Everyone needs a lot of time for their own lives and personal things.

Whats the point of earning money when you dont even have the free time to spend the money?

I support 4 day work week completely.

Thats a huge step forward from how things were.

[jacobfield]

The key is working less hours. 32 to 35 hours a week. Not 4 x 10 hour shifts, which is terrible for health.

[TJ-TJ]

- great for parents to spend with their child
- great for a partner to spend quality time with their spouse
- great for the individual to rest and recoup
- great for the local and interstate economies, cafes, restaurants, bars, leisure, tourism etc

[suzy_han]

I wish this could be implemented ASAP. I know that working 8 hours 5 days a week is how the world has set its standards, but as a student when I think about my life being that way for many many years… I hate it. I’m happy some changes are being made.

[xevious]

In many ways the 5 day work week only truly sees one day of rest. Friday is a work day. Saturday though a day of rest is often a day full of activities and no rest at all making Sunday the only true day of rest and it's marked by the stress of knowing and prepping for work which continues the next day.

[akinhwan]

to all those employees undergoing 4 day work week trials. please don't mess it up for the rest of us, and do a great job so that this becomes widespread :D

[diogomp]

As someone else said, this prophecy is self-evident. It's blatantly obvious that a 4 day week would benefit not only workers, but employers just as much, as well as restore some much needed balance between work life and personal time. I spend my Saturday shopping and trying to get some rest, while doing my best to ignore the anxiety of the fact that i only have Sunday before having to get back on the hamster wheel; and i spend Sunday in absolute dread, crippled with anxiety due to the looming Monday, and also cleaning and cooking for the week, because if i spend my pay eating out everyday, there's no pay left - this isn't life, it's modern slavery.

The insecure egos of bosses throughout the world, that insist on low pay and long hours with very little productivity, as if not being able to do your work in less time is some sort of pride badge, and if you do, your reward is more work, is asinine and nothing but a sad artefact of the industrial revolution. Immature, insecure, selfish and unscrupulous people should never be allowed to own businesses and manage other people. Yet, they seem to be the majority.

[kevinth]

After I came off a sick leave, I did a gradual return to work, first 3 days a week (Mon/Wed/Fri) and then a 4 day week (Mon/Tue, Thu/Fri). I then stayed on that 4 day week for the next 6 years. My company wasn't progressive, they reduced my pay by 20%, but I didn't care at that point, I LOVED the 4 day week with a day off in the middle of it. I wish I could get that again...

[shareofmoney]

I think people would be more incentivized to be more productive if they knew they were getting a guaranteed day off. I feel that way.

[Memento_Mori_Music]

I've seen this talk about 50 times in the last 10 years ...

SO WHEN ARE WE GOING TO ACT INSTEAD OF JUST TALKING ABOUT IT FOR ANOTHER DECADE???

[zoraster]

Should have happened decades ago. Productivity increases through technology has just translated into higher expectations.

[joellara]

I’m blessed to do 4 day work weeks. I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. I’m off Wednesday’s and the weekends. I work 6:30am to 4:30pm. Having a middle day off, helps so much before having to go back to work. I don’t have use personal time off from work, to make a doctors appointment, or dental or car oil change whatever. It helps out a lot I really hope everyone else can have a 4 day work week.

[invidatauro]

At my University right now, I only have class 4 days a week. It makes me feel much more rested and willing to head into class the next week.

[bisejp]

In Japan, we are far to discuss over this topic due to the respectively low productivity and the traditional belief that labor is a virtue. But I am totally convinced by what she said and hope that it comes true one day (need 30 more years?).

[ZenosMind]

I have a 4 day work week and it's amazing. Yall have no idea the depression it lifts off.

[henrychang]

This is so MANY wins for the world. It's time to really appreciate the true wealth that we possess: our ingenuity, our compassion, and our humanity. Love that ❤️

[simpleish]

4 days, 5 days it doesnt matter if your job kills your soul every day.