The four-day workweek is no longer a pipe dream: In the last five years, hundreds of companies have piloted a four-day, 32-hour workweeks with no pay cuts to some 8,700 workers around the world.
The results have been overwhelmingly positive: Workers love it (they’re less burned out and more engaged) while businesses have reaped the rewards, too (with boosted profits and less turnover).
Companies who successfully made the shift used three key strategies to get as much work done in less time, says Juliet Schor, an economist, sociologist and lead researcher on the experiments. Schor recently detailed the trial results in her latest book, “Four Days a Week,” and told CNBC Make It about the companies’ keys to success:
The first is implementing productivity hacks, especially shortening or deleting meetings, making meetings more efficient, and adding protected focused time.
During a typical 9-to-5, employees are interrupted every two minutes by meetings, emails and other pings, according to recent Microsoft data.
