In August 2019, employees at Microsoft Japan were asked to work only four days a week — instead of the usual five — without a pay cut as part of an experiment.

The results of this experiment were overwhelmingly positive and could even signal a major shift in the modern workplace.

In a recent press release about the study, the company announced that productivity increased by 40 per cent with a four-day workweek. The business also saw an uptick in efficiency and savings, with a 23 per cent decrease in electricity costs and a 58 per cent decrease in printing paper use.

This isn’t the first time a workplace has had success implementing a four-day workweek. New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian tested the model in 2018 and saw a 20 per cent increase in productivity along with a 27 per cent reduction in work-related stress.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Canadians are in support of spending less time at work. An Angus Reid poll conducted on the heels of the Perpetual Guardian trial found that 47 per cent of Canadians believe moving from a 40-hour to 30-hour workweek is a “good idea.”

A ‘winning solution’

Now, experts like Eddy Ng, a professor of management at Bucknell University in Pennslyvania and the school’s James and Elizabeth Freeman chair, are hoping companies in the West will take note.

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