The four-day week won’t happen overnight, but it could transform how we live and work

By Rita Fontinha, Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy, Henley Business School, University of Reading

A century ago, the five-day working week helped reshape society. It was introduced at scale by industrial pioneers to address not only worker wellbeing but also economic pressures.

US industrialist Henry Ford was among the first to give workers two full days off per week, 100 years ago this month. Ford suspected that giving workers a “weekend” would increase overall productivity – and he was correct.

Today, as advances in artificial…

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