Conversation Starters: Could The Four-Day Work Week Really Work?

The idea of a four-day work week has been trending since dozens of businesses ran a test program back in December. Despite successful results, most companies have yet to implement an actual four-day workweek, citing potential hurdles such as staffing, lower productivity, and increased costs.

But many argue that a shortened work week could actually boost productivity and largely benefit organizations. To gauge how employees feel about it, we asked the Glassdoor community: Would you be more productive if your company implemented a four-day work week?

An overwhelming majority (81%) of professionals in the Glassdoor community said they would be more productive if their company implemented a four-day work week, while 19% disagreed, saying they would not be more productive.

To break it down even further, female respondents (88%) were more likely than male respondents (75%) to say they would be more productive if their company implemented a four-day work week. 

There are even certain industries where professionals say a four-day work week could work out. Professionals in the Healthcare industry were most likely (93%) to say they would be more productive if their company implemented a four-day work week, followed by Teaching (89%) and professionals in Retail & Hospitality (86%). In contrast, professionals in the Legal industry were most likely (27%) to say they would not be more productive, followed by professionals in Accounting (23%) and Finance (21%). 

Poll Methodology

This poll was conducted on Fishbowl by Glassdoor from June 29 - July 4, 2023, and received over 12,000 responses from U.S. professionals on the platform. For subgroup breakouts including age, gender identity and industry, all categories received at least 100 responses from U.S. professionals on the platform. 

Conversation Starters are a periodic series of charts and data points from Glassdoor’s Economic Research team aimed at sparking conversations on timely trends in employee satisfaction, workplace community, the future of work, and the labor market more broadly. 

To speak with Glassdoor Economic Research about this report, please contact pr@glassdoor.com. For the latest economic research, subscribe to Glassdoor Economic Research.