The Four-Day Workweek — What Global Experience Shows and Where Georgia Stands

According to MIT Sloan Management Review, what once seemed like a radical idea is increasingly becoming a viable alternative. Around the world, more and more companies are experimenting with a four-day workweek — offering full pay, reduced working hours, and closely monitored outcomes. In the Summer 2025 issue, data from 245 organizations and 8,700 employees shows a clear trend: the four-day model can benefit both individuals and organizations.

The central model explored in the study is the “100-80-100” principle: employees receive 100% of their salary, work 80% of their time, and maintain 100% of their productivity. Across months of transformation, many companies found that they could meet goals in less time — if they restructured meetings, reduced low-value tasks, and empowered teams with greater autonomy.

Notably, over 90% of companies kept the four-day model after the pilot ended. At the same time, employee well-being improved, stress declined, loyalty increased, and staff turnover decreased.

However, the article emphasizes that this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. A four-day workweek requires strategic planning, rethinking workflows, and — crucially — a willingness from leadership to relinquish tight control and embrace flexibility.

In Georgia, this conversation is still in its early stages. Following the pandemic, there has been more discussion of remote and hybrid work, but the idea of a four-day week rarely surfaces in public or policy discourse. Yet now may be the ideal moment to consider it — not just as a novel idea, but as a practical path for economic and social progress.

In small and medium enterprises, where efficiency is vital, this model could become a powerful tool to boost retention and motivation. In the tech sector, it often focused on outcomes over hours — it may be the most natural candidate to pilot such change.

Crucially, the four-day week should not be viewed as “extra vacation time.” It represents a shift in managerial thinking that begins with a simple question: How can we work better in less time?

Published in MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2025 issue (Volume 66, Number 4), the article is based on research and interviews conducted with Juliet B. Schor, author of Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter. The discussion in the Georgian context has been developed by BTUAI.