Week 46 · Work & society
The four-day week: perk or productivity hack?
Board the question, give students one minute alone to think, then three minutes in pairs.
- If your employer offered you a four-day week for the same salary, what would you do with the extra day?
- Would you accept a four-day week with 10% less pay? Why or why not?
- Which jobs could never work this way? Think of three.
Students match words to meanings before reading, then find each one in the text to check.
First read: skim for the writer's overall view (2 min). Second read: answer the questions.
1For most of the last century, the five-day, forty-hour week was treated as a law of nature. Now a growing number of companies are asking a simple question: what if people did the same work in four days?
2Supporters argue that the fifth day is often the least productive anyway. When staff know they have a long weekend ahead, they cut unnecessary meetings, guard their focus and compress their work into fewer, sharper hours. Companies that have run pilot schemes often report that output stays level while sick days and burnout fall. For employers struggling to retain skilled staff, an extra day off can be worth more than a pay rise.
3Sceptics are not convinced. A hospital, a school or a call centre cannot simply close on Fridays, so the four-day week can turn into a rota that leaves some workers doing longer shifts. Others warn that squeezing five days into four can backfire, replacing a relaxed Friday with four exhausting days. And in some trials, results were strongest at the start, when everyone was motivated to prove the idea worked.
4Perhaps the most realistic conclusion is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The four-day week seems to work best where work is measured by results rather than hours, and where managers are willing to rethink how time is used, not just how much of it there is.
Comprehension
- Why do supporters say the fifth day is "the least productive anyway"?
- Give two reasons employers might be attracted to the idea.
- Why is a four-day week harder for a hospital than for a design agency?
- What does the writer suggest about early trial results in paragraph 3?
- Is the writer for, against or neutral? Quote a phrase that shows this.
Answer key
- Staff are less focused before the weekend; much of Friday is spent on low-value tasks.
- Lower burnout and sick days; it helps them keep (retain) skilled staff; it can be cheaper than a pay rise.
- Hospitals must run every day, so the change becomes a rota with longer shifts rather than a day off for everyone.
- They may be inflated, because people were especially motivated at the start.
- Broadly neutral / cautiously positive: "no one-size-fits-all approach", "seems to work best where…".
C1 students often know the noun but not the verb that goes with it. Elicit the gaps, then drill.
Complete each phrase with one verb: cut · run · strike · boost · take
- to ______ a pilot scheme
- to ______ unnecessary meetings
- to ______ productivity
- to ______ a healthy work–life balance
- to ______ a pay cut
Answer key
- run
- cut
- boost
- strike
- take
Now personalise it: write one true sentence about your own job or studies using two of the collocations.
Split the class into two sides. Give 4 minutes to prepare, then run the debate. Assign one student as timekeeper.
Motion: "This country should make the four-day week the legal standard by 2030."
- For: health, family time, fewer cars on the road, staff retention.
- Against: essential services, small businesses, cost, global competition.
Useful hedging language: It could be argued that… · There's a case for… · That may be true, but… · I'm not entirely convinced that…
Students write on a slip of paper and hand it in as they leave. It shows you instantly who can use today's language.
- Write one sentence using backfire.
- Write one sentence using a collocation from today.
- One question you still have about today's topic or language.