Six! Five! Four!

Ah, it’s Friday.  The final day of the workweek for most working Americans.  It is a day wrapped in a sense of accomplishment while tinged with the anticipation of a couple of days of leisure.  But turn back the clocks a century or so, and you find time when Friday was just another day in the seemingly endless workweek as the typical American used to have a six-day workweek.  According to the Economic History Association, by around 1919, an eight-hour workday became the norm, so the workweek was then 48 hours long.  Friday wasn’t the cause for celebration then that it is today.

Then the 1920s arrived.  Jazz and flappers were en vogue, and the desire for a five-day workweek started to gather momentum.  Then in 1926, Henry Ford changed the schedule at his car-making plants.  Apparently, owners of many other companies questioned the wisdom of doing so, believing there could not be any productivity gains created by reducing the workweek below 48 hours.  Despite such pushback, the five-day workweek became widely adopted.  Now there are calls for an even shorter workweek.

Now come back to the 21^st century, and possibly another roaring 20s.  A group of 61 companies in the United Kingdom started a six-month trial of the four-day workweek in 2022.  These firms did not reduce compensation but reduced the number of days worked by one.  What was supposed to be just a six-month experiment has turned permanent for some.  Fifty-four of the 61 companies are still operating on the four-day workweek with just over half declaring it is their new way of doing business.

It kind of seems obvious but is worth mentioning, the employees like it.  Folks report improvements in physical and mental health, work-life balance, and general life satisfaction.  Now, those who have read this far might be wondering what Atlas will doing about this.  In short, nothing.  Working here is quite gratifying, so we’ll remain open each day U.S. markets ring their bells.  For us, Friday remains the undisputed champion of days.