Less Work Is Making People More Unhappy
A four-day week is the ultimate worker fantasy, yet we’re already working less than previous generations and feeling more burned out.
Not as relaxing as a beautiful sunset.
Photographer: Olezzo/iStockphotoWorkers are feeling burned out. So no wonder people got excited about a recent study from the UK claiming that companies that reduced weekly hours by 20% (a four-day work week) had much happier employees without losing revenue. Absent a four-day week, more Americans appear to be choosing to downshift by deciding to work part time, even if full-time work is available. This comes on top of the quiet-quitting and lying-flat trends.
It seems like the age of working less is upon us. Even before the pandemic, Americans were putting in fewer hours. In fact, we’ve never spent so little time at work. So if we’re burned out, maybe work isn’t the problem.