DW

Research shows that shorter working hours benefit companies and workers.

According to all indications, they even have a smaller environmental impact.

The five-day work week is taken for granted in Western industrialized countries.

But it was not always like this. During the Industrial Revolution workers worked in factories over 70 hours a week. The situation changed with the establishment of trade unions and their struggle to limit working hours.

In 1926, the American industrialist Henry Ford, founder of the automobile industry of the same name, was one of the first to introduce the five-day work of a total of 40 hours in the production units. He believed that workers would be just as productive if they had two days off a week. Ford’s experiment succeeded and productivity increased. Other industries followed Ford’s example and thus the five-day week was established.

Some 100 years later, a new campaign to reduce working hours is gaining ground: The establishment of the four-day week. In recent years, the four-day working week has been piloted in Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, the UK, the US and Iceland. The results were positive. Employee health and well-being improved and productivity increased. Several studies even talk about environmental and climate benefits.

A 10% reduction in working hours saves almost 15% CO2

Juliet Shore, economist and professor of Sociology at the American Boston College, confirms in her research a clear relationship between climate footprint and working hours, at least in high-income countries: “We found that countries with long working hours have high CO2 emissions, while countries with fewer working hours have lower emissions,” says the American expert. A 2012 study involving Julier Shore put OECD countries under the microscope between 1970 and 2007, concluding that: a 10% reduction in working hours could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 15%.

But how does the CO2 savings come about? According to the study, reducing working hours by one day could: limit energy consumption in the workplace, reduce carbon dioxide emissions from commuting, thus promoting incentives for a sustainable lifestyle. In addition, telecommuting could bring about similar emissions savings, since commuting to and from the workplace would no longer be required.

Juliet Shore led two recent pilots in the UK, US and Ireland involving 91 businesses from a variety of sectors and 3,500 employees. The six-month programs were run by the London-based non-profit 4 Day Week Global, the think tank Autonomy, the University of Cambridge and Boston College.

Four days is the future

Workers received the same pay for the same amount of work, as if they worked five rather than four days a week. The results showed that the workers were in most cases just as productive, sometimes even more productive, got sick less and felt overall healthier and happier. After the study was completed, over 90% of businesses maintained the four-day work week. Just a 4% returned within five days.

According to Professor Juliet Shore, more research is needed into the effects of the four-day working week on emissions and energy consumption. So far the emphasis is on productivity and employee well-being. In the coming months, related pilot programs will be conducted in South Africa, Europe, Brazil and North America.

In general, however, there is no doubt that the world of work is changing radically. The pandemic has led to the reversal of many data. At the same time, the emergence of artificial intelligence creates new opportunities in many fields. The American professor is convinced that the four-day work week is, in one form or another, the future.