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Future of British Business

This CEO Is Putting in Overtime to Shorten Your Workweek

A onetime union official from Ireland leads a global push for more companies to embrace four-day schedules

   

   

Source: Getty Images

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Joe O’Connor wants to persuade your boss—and everyone’s boss—to reduce the workweek to 32 hours.

As chief executive officer of the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global, O’Connor oversees six-month boot camps now helping 170 companies with 10,000 participating employees around the world to adopt more flexible work schedules.  The New Zealand-based nonprofit has signed up employers in the US, Ireland, Australia and Canada, as well as its home country. This month, 70 companies in the UK with over 3,300 employees will embark on a pilot program that includes training, mentorship, data collection and networking, O’Connor said.