Is the five-day work week becoming something of the past? Does working less make us and the organisations that we work for better off? Could it even make us more productive?

This episode explores the four-day work week, which has become a popular topic in the media, chats at the water-cooler, and, more recently, in boardrooms. With more firms committing to a shorter work week without a noticeable cut in workers’ wages, Bart and his guests look at how we could maintain productivity while reducing hours by around 20%. To put it differently, can productivity per hour be increased by 25%?

Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:

Nina Jörden, Research Associate with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.
Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign and Media and Communications Lead at Autonomy.
Jon Boys, Senior Labour Market Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

For more information on the topic:

Autonomy, The results are in: the UK's four-day week pilot, February 2023.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, The four-day week: Employer perspectives on moving to a shorter working week, October 2022.

About Productivity Puzzles:

Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Can We Make the Four-Day Week Work?