The four-day workweek has documented limitations that the most-cited pilots underweight: it works in measured knowledge-work environments and underperforms or fails in manufacturing, client-service coverage, hourly retail and hospitality, banking and legal, and any operation where output must be available five or more days a week. The 2023–2025 return-to-office wave at Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Ford, and most of the major banks runs in the opposite direction — back to five days in office — and is itself a data point that the four-day model has not generalized. The case against is not a rejection of the model. It is a map of where the model breaks.
By EPR Editorial Team · Originally published May 9, 2022 · Edited on Jun 18, 2026
Cluster: Corporate CommunicationsFuture of Work · HR & Talent · Paired with the case for the model
The Numbers
Amazon September 2024 RTO announcement: full five-day in-office return effective January 2025 for ~350,000 corporate employees. JPMorgan Chase March 2025 RTO announcement: five days in office for managing directors. Goldman Sachs: five-day in-office since 2021 (David Solomon publicly opposed remote and four-day models). Ford: salaried staff in office three days weekly with pressure to increase. UK 2022 pilot retention rate: 92% of 61 firms — but the trial selected for knowledge-work firms with measurement-friendly output and excluded manufacturing, hospitality, and 24/7 services. US manufacturing workforce: roughly 13 million; share running four-day weeks: negligible. US retail and food-service workforce: over 25 million; share running four-day weeks: negligible.
Where the model fails
Manufacturing and shift work. A four-day workweek with reduced hours requires either a fifth-day shutdown or an additional shift. Both add cost. Manufacturers running 24/7 lines, food processors, and warehouse operations have not generalized to four-day weeks because the unit economics do not support it without raising prices or adding headcount.
Client-service businesses. Law firms, investment banks, top-tier consulting firms, and PR agencies serve clients on the client's schedule, which is five days minimum. The 4 Day Week Global model assumes a firm can choose its own production calendar. Most client-service firms cannot.
Banking and finance. Markets are open five days a week. Trading floors, sales desks, M&A teams, and equity research teams cannot shift to four days without either losing coverage or hiring redundant teams. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has been publicly opposed to the model.
Hourly retail and hospitality. Reducing hours at the same pay raises the per-hour labor cost. The 25-million-plus US workforce in retail and food service has not adopted the model because the economics do not support it at scale.
The return-to-office wave
Amazon announced in September 2024 that all corporate employees would return to the office five days a week effective January 2025, ending the prior three-days-in-office policy. CEO Andy Jassy, in the September 2024 memo: "Before the pandemic, not everyone was in the office five days a week, every week. If you had a personal commitment you needed to take care of, or you were on the road seeing customers, of course you would take time to do that. This is what we're returning to."
JPMorgan Chase announced in March 2025 that managing directors would return to the office five days a week. Goldman Sachs has been five-day in-office since 2021. The largest US banks, the largest US tech firm, and most major consulting firms are moving toward more days in the office, not fewer.
Why the pilots that succeed are not representative
The UK 2022 pilot selected for participation — 61 firms in measurement-friendly knowledge work, mostly under 50 employees, mostly with strong existing culture and management. The Microsoft Japan trial ran one month at one office. Iceland's public sector trial ran in a small economy with strong labor protections. The conditions under which the model works — measured output, knowledge work, strong management discipline, small or mid-sized firms — describe a slice of the labor market, not the whole.
The honest reading
The four-day workweek is a real productivity intervention for knowledge-work firms that can measure output and choose their production schedule. It is not a universal model. The companies that have adopted it permanently — Atom Bank, Buffer, Kickstarter, most of the UK pilot 61 — share characteristics. The companies returning to five-day weeks — Amazon, JPMorgan, Goldman, Ford — also share characteristics. The communications work is to be specific about which set you are in and to not overstate what the pilots show.
What this means for HR communications
Firms in manufacturing, banking, retail, hospitality, or client-service should not communicate the four-day workweek as an active option without saying clearly what their five-day operational requirements are. Knowledge-work firms with measurable output can adopt the model and communicate it credibly, citing UK pilot data and named adopters. The mistake is overstating the model's portability into environments where it does not work.
FAQ
Why are companies returning to five days in office?
Amazon (January 2025), JPMorgan Chase (March 2025), Goldman Sachs (since 2021), Ford, and most major banks have moved back to five-day in-office work. Stated reasons: in-person collaboration, culture, mentorship, and management visibility. The trend is opposite to the four-day movement.
Where does the four-day workweek not work?
Manufacturing and shift work, client-service businesses tied to a five-day client week, banking and finance tied to five-day markets, and hourly retail and hospitality where reduced hours raise per-hour labor cost.
Are the four-day pilots representative of most companies?
No. The UK 2022 pilot selected 61 measurement-friendly knowledge-work firms, mostly under 50 employees. The Microsoft Japan trial was one month at one office. Iceland is a small economy with strong labor protections. The conditions for success describe a slice of the labor market.
Has any major manufacturer adopted the four-day workweek?
No major automaker, aerospace company, or large-scale manufacturer has adopted the four-day workweek across operations. Some have piloted at specific sites. The unit economics of multi-shift operations do not support broad adoption.
Should knowledge-work firms still try the four-day workweek?
Yes, if the firm has measurable output, strong management discipline, and the ability to choose its own production schedule. The data is real where the conditions match. The mistake is generalizing to firms that do not have those conditions.
