There has been lots of chatter in the past few years about the benefits of a shorter workweek, as some companies have tested out four-day work schedules and other variations on the traditional workweek.
Back in 2021, on the heels of the pandemic, California Congressman Mark Takano even introduced a bill to enshrine a 32-hour workweek—though it never garnered enough bipartisan support to progress further. In surveys, a majority of workers have expressed interest in a four-day or 32-hour workweek (with no reduction in pay, of course).
Even as some leaders increasingly see the evolution of the workweek as an inevitability, we’re still a long way from ushering in sweeping changes across the workforce. But a recent report revealed that many employees may already be leaning into a shorter workday—or at least a more flexible workweek. Corporate workers in the U.S. are now clocking out at 4:39 p.m. on average, according to data from the workforce analytics platform ActivTrak.
The report found that while employees still log on by 8 a.m., they seem to be working less on average. The average length of the workday is now eight hours and 44 minutes, a decrease of more than 40 minutes from two years ago. However, ActivTrak’s findings also reveal a broader shift in how we work today: More people are logging hours over the weekend, especially at larger companies; and hybrid employees seem to have longer workdays, which could mean they’re wrapping up their work after hours.
Many employees, especially caregivers, have said hybrid work enables greater flexibility in their workdays and allows them to set their own schedule. Perhaps the solution to our frustrations with rigid work schedules is a shorter, more flexible workday—not necessarily a truncated workweek.
The challenges of a four-day workweek
At tech companies like Bolt and Kickstarter, the shift to a four-day workweek has been popular with employees and a selling point for prospective talent. Still, while a four-day workweek can help alleviate certain workplace challenges, it isn’t a viable option in every job or industry. There are some types of businesses that simply cannot shut down for a full day each week. Also, this type of restructuring may have little benefit for shift workers with long hours.
Even among knowledge workers, there’s a risk that cutting a full day would simply result in employees scrambling to cram their work into a shorter week. “Simply shortening the number of days we work won’t solve our problem,” wrote Mathilde Collin, CEO of the customer communication platform Front. “In fact, it might even increase stress and burnout: Squeezing more meetings into a shorter number of days means there’s even less time to focus and get creative, thoughtful work done.”
Why flexible workdays could help
Reframing this shift as a shorter workweek, whether that means four full days of work or five truncated workdays, could be a more effective approach. After all, much of the resistance to return-to-office mandates has stemmed from employees wanting to preserve the flexibility they had when remote and hybrid work was the norm.
Employees are often just looking for more flexibility in the workday rather than fewer working hours, whether they’re trying to accommodate doctors’ appointments or school pickups—or simply want to take a proper lunch break.
That’s why Collin’s company implemented flexible Fridays. “The team felt relief to have a day where they could work if needed, yet nothing was expected of them,” she wrote. “If you need focused time, you’ve always got it. And if you want to spend time with your kids or take a bike ride or go to a dentist appointment, you can do that guilt-free.”
There’s also plenty of research that indicates workers are not necessarily more productive simply because they work longer hours. Adopting a shorter workday or workweek requires a shift in mindset from companies and employees alike, to ensure that they measure output rather than hours logged; it could also mean cutting back on superfluous meetings to give employees time back.
And for companies that view a four-day workweek as a drastic measure, giving employees some flexibility to set their own working hours might actually be a better compromise—and a more realistic step in the right direction.
