Support for a four-day workweek is growing. But it’s not taking off in the U.S the way it has in parts of Europe. As Harvard Business Review notes, the case for shifting to a five-day week isn't just about happier employees, it’s about creating more efficient organizations and a healthier society.
Now that AI is making work more efficient, a shorter week is becoming a more practical option. OpenAI's recent policy guidance leans into this idea with a people-first twist: companies should think about returning some of those AI-driven productivity gains to employees as an "efficiency dividend."
For CHROs, this reframes matters because it turns the four-day week from a wellness conversation into a business one.
Authors Jared Lindzon and Joe O’Connor make the same argument in their book, Do More in Four: Why It’s Time for a Shorter Workweek.
They say the five-day workweek is a relic of the industrial age and it’s time to upgrade it. Drawing on research, case studies and personal interviews the book explores how a global nonprofit, a New Zealand consumer giant, a Canadian law firm, and a midwestern architecture firm transformed their weeks.
Leaders considering a four-day workweek pilot should consider these tips:
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The business case is stronger than people give it credit for. Yes, well-being matters but there are engagement, productivity and retention rewards that CHROs should be aware of.
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Redesign the work; don't just squeeze it. The AI-as-efficiency-dividend logic only holds if the hours you free up go back to your people. So, audit the workflow and decide where the time gets reallocated.
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Treat this like a real change initiative. Have a clear executive sponsor, a cross-functional implementation team, manager training on how to evaluate output instead of hours, and a communication plan that takes employee questions about workload, coverage, and customers seriously.
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Decide how you'll measure success before you start. Set your baselines on output, client satisfaction, and engagement up front.
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Plan for the friction. Surface concerns early and set aside discussion sessions to listen to any team questions, address explicit norms, coverage rotations, response-time commitments, and chart out clear escalation paths.
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Leadership has to model it first. If executives continue working five days a week, employees likely will too, no matter what the policy says.
The bottom line. To see if this is a viable practice for your organization, set a trial window and be upfront about what defines success so you can expand, adjust, or end it.
