According to a major UK study, a four-day job improves workers’ health in many ways, as it reduces anxiety and stress, improves sleep quality and gives them more time to exercise.

“It really had a positive effect,” says one of the authors of the report, Brendan Burchell, a social science professor at the University of Cambridge in the UK who studies the impact of work on psychological well-being.

The report builds on previous research on how shorter working hours benefit health, summarizing the results of 61 companies, a total of about 2,900 workers, who sampled four-day work between June and December 2022.

The study was conducted by scientists from Boston College and the University of Cambridge, who interviewed participants, collected data and analyzed them.

Less stress, improved mental health

The health of many workers improved after four days of work.

About 40% of respondents said they experience less stress at work, and 71% reported lower levels of burnout.

Also, more than 40% of employees noted that their mental health improved, as stress and negative emotions decreased.

Almost the same percentage of workers also reported that their physical health improved during the pilot period, possibly because they had more time for hobbies, exercise, cooking, family time, and other leisure activities. Overall, 96% of workers said they preferred four-day programs.

Benefits for employers too

It is noted that the four-day period also had advantages for employers, as their company’s revenue increased by an average of about 1%.

Nearly all businesses participating in the program have said they plan to continue experimenting with a four-day work week, and in some cases indefinitely.

Researcher Juliet Shor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College who studied the pilot four-day work program, is optimistic that other companies, even American ones, will adopt the new model.

“The pandemic has forced people to reconsider their working conditions,” adds Burchell, adding that “when he told the world three years ago that he was going to cut working hours, many thought he was a utopian and a dreamer.”

Source: TIME