By International Business senior lecturer Dr Jane Menzies, USC
NEARLY a century after Henry Ford introduced the five day, 40 hour work week in an effort to improve productivity and give workers more time to enjoy the cars they built, a new wave of workplace reform is gathering strength.
This time the focus is not on fuelling consumer habits but on protecting the wellbeing of employees and supporting long term business performance.
Across the world, governments and major companies are testing whether a shorter working week can deliver healthier and more engaged staff without compromising output.
The model attracting the most attention is known as 100 80 100. Staff receive full pay while working 80 percent of the traditional hours, and are expected to maintain full productivity.
Instead of compressing long days into a tighter schedule, the aim is to reduce inefficiencies that quietly expand across a standard week.
Trials show that once employees know they have an additional day to themselves, habits such as long meetings, extended breaks and general delay tend to shrink.
International momentum is strong. Iceland led large scale trials that resulted in the majority of its workforce shifting to shorter hours.
Belgium has allowed compressed schedules by law, while Japan has introduced reduced hours across parts of its public sector.
New Zealand has been at the centre of private sector experimentation, thanks to high profile trials by companies including Perpetual Guardian and Unilever. Australia is now rapidly expanding its own efforts. Health insurer Medibank has doubled participation in its trial, reporting happier and healthier staff while holding business performance steady.
Bunnings adopted a four day week in 2024 following a successful pilot.
IKEA formalised a four day option with a significant portion of employees taking it up. Other companies, including EES Shipping, Versa, Cliniko and Lyssna, have pursued shorter weeks in order to curb burnout and retain skilled staff.
Research is increasingly supporting these results.
A peer reviewed study published in Nature Human Behaviour followed nearly 3000 workers across six countries and found clear improvements in performance, reductions in burnout and stronger staff retention. Australian businesses involved in trials have reported similar outcomes, from lower sick leave to measurable lifts in productivity.
Experts caution that shorter weeks will not suit every industry.
Retail and customer facing sectors often rely on full coverage across the week and may opt for longer days rather than fewer hours.
Successful adoption requires careful planning, genuine employee input and constant monitoring to ensure work does not creep into the additional day off.
Even so, rapid advances in technology and automation may accelerate wider uptake.
