Four-day work week: benefits for employees AND employers

Flexible working hours and remote work options are increasingly sought-after by employees who want to balance their personal and professional lives. Fortunately, the four-day work week may become a standard benefit offered by many companies in the coming years.

Here’s an overview.

In 2025, an American scientific journal published the results of a large-scale study on the impacts of implementing a four-day work week without reducing salaries. The experiment lasted six months and involved 141 companies across six countries, including Canada and the United States.

The results were clear: the four-day work week led to a decrease in burnout and an increase in job satisfaction. Additionally, employees experienced improvements in their physical and mental well-being. As a result, 90 per cent of participating companies decided to keep the new schedule after the trial ended.

Similar studies around the world have produced equally positive outcomes, leading many experts to believe that the four-day work week could soon become the norm.

However, implementing the four-day work week isn’t feasible in every industry. For example, manufacturing sectors may struggle to make it cost-effective in a factory, whereas service-based companies tend to see strong results. Well-rested employees are more productive, creative and engaged. Plus, they make fewer mistakes.

In short, every employer could benefit from investing in measures to improve the well-being of their employees to make them more productive and retain them for longer.