From flexible work to a four-day week

This article was sponsored by Google Trends.

Flexible work is a familiar part of working life in Australia in 2026, but are Australians also looking for a way to work fewer hours? Google Trends data suggests that while a four-day working week is attracting interest, broader searches for flexible work remain much more prominent.

Over the past five years, “flexible work” recorded an average relative search-interest score of 57 in Australia, compared with 29 for “4 day work week”, 14 for “four day week” and zero for “compressed work week”. These scores are Google Trends’ measure of relative interest within the selected comparison, not actual search volumes. A score of zero does not mean nobody searched for a term, it means the term had insufficient relative search interest to register a score above zero in this comparison.

The four-day week enters the conversation

Google Trends data also offers related search term data, which often provides insight into the specifics of issues that might provoke search interest. Searches for “Australia four day work week” increased by 170 per cent over the last five years. Searches for “four day work week trial” were marked as a breakout query, as were variations referring to Australian trials.

These figures suggest people are looking beyond the general idea and seeking information about how a shorter working week might work in practice.

This suggests that people may have been hearing about four-day-week pilot programs in Australia and looking for more information. Keep in mind, however, that search trends cannot tell us whether those people are employees attracted by the idea of a shorter working week, employers investigating a new model of flexible work, students researching the topic or simply people following the debate.

Also, four day work weeks are typically divided into two types:

A compressed work week: employees work their standard hours in four days. For example, someone contracted for 40 hours a week might choose to work 10 hours a day for four days so they can have the fifth day away from work. They only work four days but their total working hours remain the same.

A reduced-hours four-day week is where the actual hours an employee works is reduced by 20 per cent but the expectation is that their productivity remains unchanged. A common example of this is known as 100:80:100, where the employee gets 100 percent of their pay for 80 per cent of their hours, with the expectation that they maintain 100 per cent of their productivity.

What does the evidence say?

Australian research into shorter working weeks offers some initial evidence of promise, although the findings need to be read in context.

A 2026 study by Deakin University studied 15 Australian businesses that trialled the 100:80:100 model. Researchers interviewed the decision-makers who advocated for and introduced the arrangement. At the time of the interviews, conducted between early 2023 and late 2024, 14 businesses were still using the model. Six reported that productivity had increased, while the others said it had remained about the same.
None reported any decline in productivity.

The study also found that workers experienced potential improvements in work-life balance and reduced burnout. It’s worth noting however, that this was a small qualitative study of businesses that had chosen to trial the model, and it relied on the accounts of people involved in implementing it. It doesn’t necessarily follow that every workplace or industry would get the same results.

An encouraging study in 2025 followed a larger group of 2,896 employees across 141 organisations in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA during a six-month trial of the 100:80:100 model. The researchers found improvements in burnout, job satisfaction, and mental and physical health compared to a control group with unchanged conditions. The researchers noted that participating organisations had volunteered for the trial, and the results were based on before-and-after data rather than a randomised experiment. Nevertheless, the findings are encouraging, although these limitations should be considered when interpreting the results.

Flexibility means more than where and when we work

The Pro Bono Australia Salary Survey 2026 also highlights flexibility as a workforce issue for not-for-profit employers. The survey asks organisations to assess work flexibility as a talent-attraction strategy and lack of flexibility as a possible reason staff leave. While flexibility is certainly attractive to workers, it encompasses a much larger range of options than just a four day week. It can include working from home, adjusted work times across the week, job sharing and many other alternatives that give workers more control over their working lives.

A shorter week may not suit every role. Organisations providing services around the clock, for example, still need to maintain coverage, and some workers may prefer flexible start and finish times or remote work over a fixed day off. A compressed week can also mean longer days rather than less work, which may not suit all
workers.

The question for employers is not simply whether a four-day week sounds appealing, but which working arrangements can improve employees’ lives while allowing organisations to deliver the work their communities rely on.