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Less work is making people more unhappy

A four-day week is the ultimate worker fantasy, yet we are already working less than previous generations and feeling more burnt out.

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Even before the pandemic, Americans were putting in fewer hours.

Even before the pandemic, Americans were putting in fewer hours.

PHOTO: PEXELS

Allison Schrager

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Workers are feeling burnt out. So no wonder people got excited about a recent study from Britain claiming that

companies that reduced weekly hours by 20 per cent (a four-day work week) had much happier employees

without losing revenue. Absent a four-day week, more Americans appear to be choosing to downshift by deciding to work part-time, even if full-time work is available. This comes on top of the quiet-quitting and lying-flat trends.

It seems like the age of working less is upon us. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were putting in fewer hours. In fact, we have never spent so little time at work. So if we are burnt out, maybe work is not the problem.

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