FREEING TIME

How the four-day workweek went global

1926

Thirteen years after installing the moving assembly line, Ford Motor Co. adopts a fiveday workweek, shortened from six, inspiring other companies to do the same.

1956

In a speech during the Eisenhower reelection campaign, then Vice President Richard Nixon predicts such prosperity that the country will embrace a four-day workweek “in the not-toodistant future.”

2008

To cut office operating costs, Utah implements a four-day, 10-houra-day workweek for state employees. The move ends in 2011 amid questions over the size of the savings.

2018

Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand–based estateplanning service Perpetual Guardian, implements a trial of a four-day week at his company.

The results inspire him to cofound 4

Day Week Global.

2020–2021

Progressive politicians from New Zealand to the U.S. champion a shorter week to combat burnout brought to a head by COVID-19 and to spur economic growth.

1998, 2000

France’s Aubry Laws establish a 35-hour workweek for French companies with more than 20 employees.

Met with skepticism, the policy is substantially weakened a few years later.

1938

Congress passes the Fair Labor Standards

Act, creating a minimum hourly wage and a maximum workweek of 44 hours.

2015

Around 2,500 public employees in Iceland begin a four-year trial of a shorter workweek. Within a few years, 86% of the country’s workers follow shorter hours or have a right to them.

2019

Other companies begin experimenting with shorter weeks: Tech giant Microsoft launches a five-week trial in Japan, a country known for its notoriously rigid work culture. It reports a 40% boost in productivity. 2023 4 Day Week Global makes headlines for its mass trials at more than 100 companies, publishing attentiongrabbing results like an average 36% rise in revenue.