Welcome to The Policy Nerd podcast by the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab. This is the place where top thinkers come to talk concrete data and debate policy solutions that would reset us along a more equitable and smarter path.
This episode has Juliet Schor as the expert guest. She is a sociology Professor at Boston College and a bestselling author. Schor’s research focuses on work, consumption, and climate change. Her recent work focuses on the four-day workweek.
The host is UNESCO’s Iulia Sevciuc.
Together they explore the redesign of the traditional approach to work. Juliet makes a case for a reduction of the workweek from five to four days with no pay cut. She has been trialling it around the world – including Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, the UK, and the US – and brings concrete data on its benefits for both the employees and the companies. Employees report less stress, lower burnout rates, improved physical and mental health, and greater job satisfaction. As for the companies, productivity and profitability go up, turnover and absenteeism go down, and talent and applicant attraction improve. While positive, these results come from trials that have been, so far, concentrated in certain industries and set-ups. To scale up and reap the full benefits of a 4-day week, companies and governments need to embrace broader measures – e.g., internal reorganisation of processes, work redesign, incentives, and possible subsidies to stimulate uptake across industries and countries.
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Juliet Schor is an economist and sociologist at Boston College. She is co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream, the Center for Popular Economics, and chairs the board of the Better Future Project. Her work has produced several bestselling books, including The Overworked American, The Overspent American, and True Wealth. Her ongoing project on four-day workweek trials is organised with the non-profit 4 Day Week Global.
Iulia Sevciuc is UNESCO’s lead on inclusive policies and data-driven policy change. Prior to this appointment, Iulia worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on similar agendas.
The facts, ideas, and opinions expressed in this video are those of the presenter; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO or any of its partners and stakeholders and do not commit nor imply any responsibility thereof. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this piece do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.