Four-Day Week

New York Times DealBook Comments on the Four-Day Week

The New York Times’ DealBook recently asked whether the four-day work week is here to stay. As companies implement flexible work arrangements including four-day weeks and reduced working hours in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, reports of lower voluntary attrition, greater well-being, better work-life balance, and greater cooperative spirit in the workplace have become common. As a result, numerous companies are choosing to continue with flexibility and reduced working hours for employees, even as we learn to live with the ebbs and flows of COVID-19. 

In the DealBook article, author Kevin Delaney takes a historical look at the four-day week, suggesting that although the idea may seem novel, it is actually deeply rooted in American discourse about work over the last half century or more. Delaney notes that then-Vice President Richard Nixon described the four-day week as likely in the “not too distant future” as far back as 1956, and that President Jimmy Carter touted the benefits of the four-day week in the US in 1977. 

Economic changes in the 1980s aimed at efficiency and globalization curbed momentum for the four-day week, but between businesses being forced to rethink work during the pandemic and what we know about the implications of flexible work for both equity and the environment, we are once again in a historical moment in which the four-day week is reemerging as a viable path forward.

LifeCity is committed to creating impact for its team, in part by using flexible work arrangements and the four-day week to allow employees to thrive both personally and professionally. We believe that the four-day week is the future of work, and we are proud to be on the cutting edge of this important transition.