Thousands of Workers Tried a 4-Day Week—the Impact on Their Health Was Clear
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A four-day workweek with no reduction in pay improves both workers' health and overall job performance and satisfaction, according to a new study.
Working norms were reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, making remote work a necessity for some amid lockdowns. But it also exposed widespread burnout and disengagement among workers across most markets.
In response, some companies began offering reduced hours with full pay. Initiatives like '4 Day Week Global' are aimed at reshaping post pandemic work to meet employees' needs without compromising their companies' interests.
The study—led by Boston College researchers Wen Fan and Juliet Schor—tracked 2,896 employees across 141 organizations worldwide over a six months period, to understand the effects of the new scheme on their physical and mental health.
The team found that workers whose days were cut by eight hours or more reported the most substantial improvements—which came in the form of reduced mental strain and improved physical health. Smaller reductions also had positive effects.
A stock image shows some work colleagues having a laugh over a cup of coffee at their desk.
A stock image shows some work colleagues having a laugh over a cup of coffee at their desk.
getty images
The trial included subjects in the United States, as well as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The researchers analyzed changes in burnout, fatigue, sleep quality and work performance resulting from the change to the working week.
Employees switching to a four-day week were compared with those at 12 companies that kept the traditional five-day model. Workers in the four-day trail reported higher levels of physical and mental well-being than those who worked five days a week.
A similar study was previously conducted in 2022 in the United Kingdom, where over 3,300 employees at 73 companies participated in a six-month trial aimed at testing the effectiveness and productivity of a four-day workweek.
It was found that the four-day workweek did not generate a loss of productivity—in fact, it actually improved productivity in some cases. While 46 percent of leaders reported stable levels of productivity, 34 percent said it "increased slightly."
The authors of the new study acknowledged some key limitations in their methodology, including the fact that the companies involved opted in voluntarily and that most were smaller firms based in English-speaking countries only.
The researchers recommend randomized, government-backed trials be conducted in future to assess shortened workweeks on a larger scale.
Do you have a health story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about the four-day workweek trial? Let us know via health@newsweek.com.
Reference
Fan, W., Schor, J. B., Kelly, O., & Gu, G. (2025). Work time reduction via a 4-day workweek finds improvements in workers' well-being. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02259-6
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
2 hours ago
More Trump administration figures who met Laura Loomer's ire are out. A look at her influence
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- President Donald Trump has downplayed the influence of Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur known for her incendiary social media presence, in his administration's decision-making. But the list of administration officials who have drawn Loomer's ire and swiftly thereafter gotten the axe from Trump has been growing. Among the latest is Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration's polarizing vaccine chief, who announced this week he was leaving the agency after a brief tenure that drew the ire of biotech executives, patient groups and conservative allies of Trump. Prasad had recently become a target of right-wing activists, including Loomer, who flagged Prasad's past statements criticizing Trump and praising liberal independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. On Wednesday, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll directed the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to remove Jen Easterly, a newly announced hire who led the nation's cybersecurity agency under President Joe Biden, shortly after Loomer criticized her. Loomer, who has publicly encouraged Trump to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the 'Make America Great Again' agenda, has taken credit for some of the ousters, tearing into some of Trump's allies and advisers and calling out what she calls a 'vetting crisis' within the White House. Trump, meanwhile, has long praised Loomer while distancing himself at times from her most controversial comments and downplaying her direct impact on his choices. Here's a rundown on connections between Loomer's criticism and Trump administration departures: Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Prasad was ousted following several recent controversies. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters. Last week, Loomer posted on X of Prasad, 'How did this Trump-hating Bernie Bro get into the Trump admin???' Prasad did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning. He joined the FDA in May after years as an academic researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, where he frequently criticized the FDA's approach to drug approvals and COVID-19 vaccines. Loomer was also vocal in opposition to Trump's first choice for surgeon general, whose selection was ultimately withdrawn. Trump pulled the nomination of former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat just before Senate confirmation hearings in May. Loomer had posted on X that 'we can't have a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didn't go to medical school in the US' as the surgeon general. Driscoll's directive that West Point remove Easterly, shared on X, came just a day after she was announced as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in West Point's social sciences department. Easterly had served as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, facing harsh criticism from Republicans who argued that her work to counter misinformation about elections and the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to censorship. On Tuesday, Loomer posted on X about Easterly's new role at West Point, saying 'Biden holdovers' at the Defense Department were 'undermining' Trump's administration. On April 3, Loomer presented 'research findings' to Trump, Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles and others including then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, during an Oval Office meeting, according to people speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. A day later, Trump said he had fired 'some' White House National Security Council officials, downplaying Loomer's influence on the moves. The departures included the director of the National Security Agency, Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, who also oversaw the Pentagon's Cyber Command, along with Haugh's civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble. When reached for comment, Loomer referred The Associated Press to an X post, saying she was not going to divulge any details about her Oval Office meeting with Trump 'out of respect' for the president. In a subsequent X post, Loomer appeared to take credit for the firings, writing, 'You know how you know the NSC officials I reported to President Trump are disloyal people who have played a role in sabotaging Donald Trump?' She noted, 'the fired officials' were being defended by Trump critics on CNN and MSNBC. Loomer called for Waltz's ouster in the weeks following revelations he had mistakenly added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans. As reports began to circulate that Waltz could be leaving the administration — he was ultimately nominated as United Nations ambassador — she appeared to take credit, writing 'SCALP' in an X post. Adam Schleifer, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, received an email in March saying he was being terminated 'on behalf of President Donald J. Trump,' according to a person familiar with the matter. The email came exactly an hour after Loomer called for him to be fired in a social media post that highlighted Schleifer's past critical comments about Trump while Schleifer was running in a Democratic primary for a congressional seat in New York. Earlier this month, Loomer took a victory lap after the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked on the cases against Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, three people familiar with the matter told The AP. Comey's ouster, Loomer said on X, followed her two-month 'pressure campaign.' Yes, chief among them Attorney General Pam Bondi. Loomer has called for Bondi's resignation over failure to keep promises to release more files from the Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation of Epstein, branding her a 'total liar.' Earlier this month, following DOJ's revelations that no Epstein 'client list' existed and no more files would be released, Loomer posted on X that she was told that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was 'seriously thinking about resigning' amid his ongoing clashes with Bondi over the case. Weeks later, both Bondi and Bongino were still on the job. In April, Trump denied that Loomer had anything to do with aides being ousted from their jobs at the National Security Council, calling her a 'very good patriot and a very strong person' who only made recommendations. 'Sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody,' Trump said then, adding: 'She's usually very constructive. She recommended certain people for jobs.' Loomer was seen traveling with Trump during last year's campaign, accompanying him on a trip to New York and Pennsylvania as he commemorated the 9/11 attacks. She also traveled with Trump to Philadelphia for a debate against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Loomer said she never officially joined the campaign after Trump's allies preferred he would keep his distance. After a Harris-related post on X in which Loomer played on racist stereotypes, Trump called Loomer 'a supporter of mine' with 'strong opinions,' but denied knowledge of her comments. He later posted on his Truth Social account that he disagreed with what she had said.
Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
Trump drove firing of FDA official
'I just texted President Trump on Monday just to make sure he was aware of the situation,' Johnson said Wednesday. 'The Duchenne muscular dystrophy community is very concerned about some recent actions the FDA took, I just thought he ought to be aware of it.' The criticism of Prasad's Elevidys decision added to Loomer's line of attacks. She called attention to his 2021 social media posts in which he called himself 'a political liberal' aligned with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Loomer also linked on July 20 to his 2020 X post expressing support for then-candidate Joe Biden to win the presidential election that November. 'Prasad's policy positions are a direct affront to the conservative principles underpinning Trump's agenda,' Loomer wrote, listing his support for universal health care and abortion rights. On July 28, Loomer posted a story quoting interviews in which Prasad expressed disdain for Trump, including an apparent joke about stabbing a voodoo doll of the president to 'curse' him . Loomer could not be reached for comment on Prasad's departure. Makary on Wednesday announced Dr. George Tidmarsh would take over as acting director of the FDA's biologics center — but more substantial changes could be on the horizon. The Trump administration is weighing splitting the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research into two bodies: one focused on vaccine regulation and one on therapeutics, according to three of the people familiar with the discussions. That could allow Kennedy to respond to anti-vaccine groups like Children's Health Defense, which has expressed concern he has not been as aggressive toward immunizations as they hoped. Under Prasad, the FDA approved Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for kids aged 6 months through 11 years at increased risk for Covid-19. Prasad was also instrumental in developing the FDA's framework for approval of future Covid-19 booster shots. 'What matters is that a highly qualified scientist and public health expert quickly steps into this essential role at the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,' Mary Holland, CHD's president and CEO, said in a statement to POLITICO about Prasad's exit.
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Frozen Pasta Alert Map Shows States With New Warning
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health alert for frozen pork and beef tortellini due to the product potentially containing toasted ravioli that may have soy and sesame, which is not noted on the label. Why It Matters The latest recalls and health alerts underscore the persistent risks in the U.S. food supply related to allergen mislabeling, bacterial contamination and foreign-object hazards. With millions of Americans relying on frozen meals for convenience, such alerts are critical for preventing illness, allergic reactions or physical harm. Numerous recalls have been initiated in 2025 due to the potential for damaged products, foodborne illness, contamination and undeclared food allergens. Millions of Americans experience food sensitivities or allergies every year. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nine "major" food allergens in the U.S. are eggs, milk, fish, wheat, soybeans, Crustacean shellfish, sesame, tree nuts and peanuts. The frozen pasta is not being recalled "because the products are no longer available for purchase," the FSIS says. What to Know The frozen pork and beef tortellini that may contain the toasted ravioli were produced on May 27, 2025. The product was in a 16-ounce package labeled Schnucks Tortellini PORK & BEEF with a best-by date of May 27, 2026, the FSIS says. "The product subject to the public heath alert bears establishment number 'EST. 13051' inside the USDA mark of inspection," the alert notes. The manufacturer, P.E. & F Inc. DBA DiMare's Specialty Foods, told Newsweek via email Wednesday that 312 packages are affected by the alert. Below is a map of the states impacted by the alert, which include Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. What People Are Saying The FSIS, in its alert: "The problem was discovered when the establishment notified FSIS that their sole consignee received a consumer complaint of ravioli product in a bag labeled as tortellini," adding, "FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers' freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase." The FDA, on its website: "Food allergies and other types of food hypersensitivities affect millions of Americans and their families. Food allergies occur when the body's immune system reacts to certain proteins in food. Food allergic reactions vary in severity from mild symptoms involving hives and lip swelling to severe, life-threatening symptoms, often called anaphylaxis, that may involve fatal respiratory problems and shock." What Happens Next Customers who have food safety questions can call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline or via email at MPHotline@ the alert says.
