April 28, 2026
Experts have shown data revealing a four-day work week increases employee satisfaction and well-being but the practice seems to be failing.
Around the world, the concept of a “four-day work week” seems to have the approval of everyone from employees to human resource experts but not business owners and leaders, who are seemingly stopping the practice from becoming widespread, Harvard Business Review reports.
Experts have shown that a four-day work week increases employee satisfaction and well-being, while addressing modern workplace issues like employee engagement, without decreasing productivity. OpenAI recently published a policy paper encouraging companies to pilot a four-day workweek as an “efficiency dividend” to give workers more time back.
The practice seems to be failing, but why?
Despite the data and push, business owners and leaders loathe the concept, claiming that four-day workweeks only heighten complaints about today’s workplace, targeting younger generations and labeling them as “lazy” or “disinterested.”
JP Morgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, pushed some blame on the increased use of AI, saying it will “eventually reduce the workweek in the developed world,” according to The Guardian.
The authors of the book, Do More in Four: Why It’s Time for a Shorter Workweek, Jared Lindzon and Joe O’Connor, feel that when done right, the four-day workweek gives organizations and companies the opportunity to better manage workplace collaboration and coordination.
“The change could be disruptive to business communication practices; however, that fear is precisely what motivates organizations to get more serious and intentional about internal communication prior to making the switch,” the authors wrote.
“Undertaking that kind of change can be daunting and time-consuming, which is why such efforts tend to fall to the bottom of everyone’s priority list. However, the prospect of a shorter workweek provides the necessary motivation to encourage that kind of change.”
The concept could be adapte—if it were rebranded. Some ideas include a “performance pay” or “smart pay” or “results/rewards” compensation system, claiming the terms are less lazy and push getting things done more. It also seems to be more appealing to business executives.
As some companies have already adopted a four-day work week, there are ways organizations can redesign the practice to make it more appealing, such as ditching distractions, creating more focused, intentional work environments, adopting AI and productivity-boosting technologies, and structuring definitions and processes for escalations and work emergencies.
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