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Perhaps not a surprise. But working less, for the same pay, makes workers feel better and more relaxed.
we study how an organization-wide 4-day workweek intervention—with no reduction in pay—affects workers' well-being.
These are the findings from new peer-reviewed research published in Nature Human Behaviour, where researchers monitored the effects of a four-day work week for six months.
About 2,896 employees across 141 organisations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom took part.
They answered surveys before and after the trial. Their answers were then compared with 285 employees from 12 companies who worked a normal five-day week.
shows improvements in burnout, job satisfaction, mental health and physical health—a pattern not observed in 12 control companies.
Three key factors mediate the relationship: improved self-reported work ability, reduced sleep problems and decreased fatigue. The results indicate that income-preserving 4-day workweeks are an effective organizational intervention for enhancing workers' well-being.
[...] "We know when people are really stressed and burnt out and not sleeping well, productivity doesn't just continue upwards," Dr Sander said.
Who wouldn't want to work one day less per week for the same pay ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-22/four-day-work-week-health-burnout/105555392
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02259-6
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 27 2025, @08:19AM
The OP labels this as socialism. It's not. There's a long thread in a journals arguing that Elon Musk shouldn't be called a Nazi. If only people were as staunchly opposed to misusing the socialism label. This isn't helpful to the discussion.
The OP uses a straw man argument about people not working at all. That's not even close to saying that people should work 32 hours per week instead of 40. Some businesses want to institute a six day work week [newsweek.com], and that used the be normal in the past. Does keeping the work week at 40 hours instead of 48 or more inevitably lead people not working at all? No! It's a straw man and is as unhelpful as if I refuted the six day work week with an argument about imposing a 168 hour work week.
The OP strongly implies that reducing the work week to 32 hours will diminish productivity, hence the part about running out of other people's money. It's a non-sequitur. Many studies support that a 32 hour work week doesn't reduce productivity from 40 hours, and might even improve it because people are more physically and mentally rested and have less stress.
The OP's argument is based on multiple logical fallacies and misuse of the word "socialism", which often has a negative connotation. It's detrimental to the discussion. I understand your concern, but in this context, I find your comment also unhelpful.