It’s been touted as a solution to boost productivity and combat persistent work-life balance woes and climate change
“The four-day work week.”
It’s been touted as a solution to boost productivity and combat persistent work-life balance woes: the four-day work week. This involves slashing one workday from the weekly schedule without slashing pay, and was first catapulted to global attention in 2018 thanks to one Kiwi businessman giving the idea a crack. Since then, companies around the world have trialled the concept, including a successful pilot at Unilever NZ.
While ostensibly about worker wellbeing, a trial involving more than 60 UK companies across six months in 2022 suggests working less could have environmental benefits too. The four-day work week not only boosted productivity, but also reduced carbon footprints. “Although climate benefits are the most challenging thing to measure, we have a lot of research showing that over time, as countries reduce hours of work, their carbon emissions fall. A 10% reduction in hours is associated to an 8.6% fall in carbon footprint,” Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College, told BBC Future. In the trial, people spent less time commuting, resulting in a drop of around one-fifth in miles travelled by car. Companies also registered a decrease in energy needs related to storing and sending data – it seems that with less time in the office, people weren’t faffing about with inefficient emailing back and forth as much.
But what about that extra weekend day? Some worry that the newfound freedom might entice people to pursue less sustainable pastimes – like jumping on a flight to travel more often. It’s possible, but evidence is a little thin on the ground. In general, weekend emissions tend to be lower than weekdays. Some argue that the expanded personal time and space encourages people to engage in slower-paced sustainable activities, like cycling or walking to get places, or volunteering for the planet. Here in New Zealand, when Covid-19 lockdowns meant we left our cars in the garage, carbon emissions dropped. A 2021 report found that a four-day work week, if implemented by 2025, would save the UK 127 million tonnes of carbon emissions – a reduction of more than 20%, equivalent to taking around 27 million cars off the road.
We probably need more data to quantify just how big an impact a four-day work week might have on climate action, especially here in New Zealand. But I think it’s a great example of how climate solutions don’t have to be sacrifices. We can imagine a life where we work less, stress less, have more free time and tread lighter on the earth. Sounds like it’s worth giving the three-day weekend a whirl.