Los Angeles Times

Commentary: Can a four-day workweek really work? Many companies have already learned the answer

Commuters ride an escalator up to street level at the North Hollywood station on the Metro Red Line on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Los Angeles.

In 1940, Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to limit the standard workweek to 40 hours, with any additional hours eligible for overtime. Despite a more than threefold increase in productivity since, the 40-hour week has remained unchanged for 83 years.

But it may be changing at last. 2023 could just be the year of the four-day, 32-hour week.

Over the first few months of the year, Google searches for information about the four-day week rose by a factor of five. The

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