The four-day work week has become much more common in the United States as a recent survey showed that nearly a quarter of Americans have the opportunity to take advantage of the perk. Companies know that policies like this can help them attract top talent. Nineteen major U.S. companies offer a four-day work week.
1. Bit.Io
Bit.io, a San Francisco-based company, was one of the first to offer its employees a four-day work week, beginning the initiative in 2019. According to the company, their employees are just as productive in four days as in five.
2. Shake Shack
Shake Shack is in the fast-casual restaurant industry, which typically doesn’t offer great perks for its workers. However, things are different at the chain, which was opened by Danny Meyer, as four-day work weeks have been tested in corporate offices and restaurant locations.
3. Praytell
Praytell is a marketing agency based in New York and has worked on projects for major brands like Under Armour, Peet’s Coffee, and Clairol. The agency has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia and employees can take advantage of a four-day work week.
4. The City of Morgantown, West Virginia
The city of Morgantown, West Virginia, is the third-most populous area in the state, and is home to the University of West Virginia. City workers in the state were given the option to work four days a week to be able to spend more time with their families.
5. Carfax
Founded in 1984, Carfax offers consumers complete reports on used cars so that they know exactly what they are getting. The company grew quickly and now has more than 1,500 workers. One of the perks offered to those workers is a four-day work week during the summer months.
6. Primary.com
Primary is an online-clothing retailer that makes pieces for babies, kids, and even adults. The company has their employees work four nine-hour shifts each week. While employees are typically off work on Fridays, they have the option to use the extra day if there is work that spills over. Workers say they appreciate the chance to work at their own pace.
7. Thrive Global
It is no surprise that Thrive Global offers its employees a four-day work week. The company creates products designed to help people achieve their goals by focusing on ways to improve their personal wellness. Employees have the choice of whether or not to take the benefit.
8. Buffer
Buffer, is a technology company based out of San Francisco, which later relocated to Tel Aviv, Israel. The brand began a pilot program for a four-day workweek shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Within a month, the company decided to make the program a full-time benefit for its employees.
9. The Financial Diet
The Financial Diet is an organization that teaches women about their finances through a website, podcast, newsletter, and book. Chelsea Fagan grew her original blog into a cross-platform media company, and once she made the choice to work a four-day week, she never looked back.
10. Boulder County, Colorado
In April 2021, Boulder County in Colorado announced that public offices would be closed on Fridays and they would be moving to a four-day workweek. People didn’t work less, though. Instead, public service workers now spend 10 hours, four days a week, rather than eight hours, five days a week.
11. Basecamp
Basecamp is a company designed to help other businesses with their project management load. The four-day workweek is a seasonal benefit, running from May to August each year. The company’s CEO says that the program’s main benefit is teaching employees how to work smarter rather than harder.
12. Bolt
Bolt is another San Francisco company that decided to adopt a four-day work week. When initially announcing the program, CEO Ryan Breslow said he always viewed changing the workweek as a matter of when, not if.
13. Uncharted
Uncharted, a company based in Denver, Colorado, began a pilot program based on the four-day work week in 2021. While the pilot was said to be a success, the company was later sold to and merged with Common Future, a national nonprofit focused on an inclusive and equitable economy based in Oakland, California.
14. D’Youville
D’Youville University is a Catholic college located in Buffalo, New York. The school began a four-day schedule in 2022 while retaining the same benefit and pay structure. Students here no longer have to rig their schedule to have Fridays off, as they already do.
15. Nectafy
Nectafy, a company that produces original content to help businesses grow, does things differently than most other companies on this list. Nectafy’s entire staff is made up of remote workers, and those remote workers have the opportunity to complete all their work in four days rather than five.
16. ThredUp
Second-hand clothing stores have never been more popular, and ThredUp, an online second-hand clothing retailer, is thriving in the new market. The company added the option to work four days a week rather than five as a perk to potential new hires.
17. Kickstarter
Kickstarter, created in 2009 in Brooklyn, New York, by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler, helps creators crowdfund passion projects. The brand helped fund success stories like the Oculus Rift, the Exploding Kittens tabletop game and the Academy Award-nominated short, Incident in New Baghdad. The company’s 140 employees have the option to work a four-day workweek.
18. Panasonic, North America
Panasonic is a major Japanese company that manufactures a wide array of consumer electronics. Boasting a workforce of more than 200,000, Panasonic has offices in several countries around the globe. Many of those global workers, including those in the United States, can work under a four-day workweek.
19. The Wanderlust Group
The Wanderlust Group wants to make it easier for people to enjoy the outdoors and connect with nature through technology. Their four-day work week is slightly different from most other businesses on the list. The Wanderlust Group’s employees have Mondays off and work Tuesday through Friday.
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