[PragmaticPulp]

They only tested a 4-day workweek for 4 weeks.

I was part of a similar test at a previous employer. We switched to a 4-day workweek for a few months. We were warned that management would be watching our productivity closely during the trial period.

You bet we worked incredibly hard during that trial period. Everyone was working long hours to get everything done early. Ironically, some people even worked Saturdays during the trial period. No one wanted to be the person who fell behind and ruined the four day workweek trial period for everyone else.

Employees are smart. If their management says they can have an extra 52 days off each year if they nail productivity during a 4-week trial period, of course they're going to be ultra productive for those 4 weeks.

[ghaff]

In fact, although it's not super-common, some US companies have official "summer hours" where they maintain a nominal 40-hour week but Friday is a half-day or off entirely (maybe every second week). TBH, part of the theory is that a lot of people take short days on Friday anyway, especially in areas where a lot of people want to beat the weekend traffic to the beach/coast/mountains.

And if it's going to tend to happen informally anyway, it's probably fairer to make it an official policy for everyone.

That said, I personally mostly lean towards more vacation days I can take together rather than every week being shorter.