Four-Day Workweek Boosts Productivity in Australia Trial

Working one less day per week didn't hurt business. It helped.

Fifteen Australian companies tested a four-day workweek between 2022 and 2023, and the results published this week in Nature show why almost all of them never went back. Workers got full pay for 80% of their usual hours while maintaining 100% productivity.

The outcome surprised even the optimists. Six companies saw productivity actually increase. The rest reported no change, meaning nobody lost ground by giving employees an extra day off.

The trial included businesses across different industries, from property management to publishing. That diversity matters because it suggests the model works beyond tech startups or creative agencies.

All but one company continued the four-day week after the trial ended. That's the real vote of confidence.

Prof John Hopkins of Deakin University, who led the study, sees this as perfectly timed. As artificial intelligence promises productivity gains and workplace burnout reaches crisis levels, the four-day week addresses both challenges at once.

The Ripple Effect

This Australian trial joins a growing body of evidence from around the world. Similar experiments in Iceland, the UK, and other countries have shown the same pattern: shorter workweeks reduce staff turnover, improve employee wellbeing, and maintain or boost productivity.

Critics question whether these benefits last beyond the honeymoon period of a trial. But companies voting with their wallets tells a different story. When businesses choose to keep paying full salaries for fewer hours, they're seeing real value.

The timing couldn't be more relevant. As companies figure out what to do with efficiency gains from AI, they face a choice: pocket the profits or share them with workers through better work-life balance.

More companies worldwide are answering that question by launching their own trials. Each success story makes the four-day week look less like a radical experiment and more like common sense.

The evidence keeps mounting. Maybe it's time to rethink what a workweek should look like.

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