Microsoft Japans four-day working week trial lead to productivity improvements

Microsoft’s Japanese division found that reducing its working week to four days throughout the month of August caused an increase in productivity and a decrease in costs. Sales per employee rose by 40 percent compared to the same period in the previous year as a result of the company’s “Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019,” reports Bloomberg.

Microsoft is not the only organization to explore the idea of a shorter working week. In New Zealand, one trust management company trialed a four-day working week over two months last year and found staff focus improved and stress decreased. In the UK, one London-based science research foundation explored plans to give workers Fridays off without any pay penalty, but scrapped the idea due to its...

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