Tackling France’s ballooning deficit has renewed interest in work reforms, including, recently, a controversial suggestion to scrap two national holidays.
“The entire nation needs to work more, to produce more, so that the country's activity as a whole is greater over the year," said then-prime minister François Bayrou in July, as he presented his 2026 budget.
But is putting in more hours the only way to boost productivity?
Not at all, argues Clara Bouchet, a doctoral student in management sciences at Jean Moulin University, Lyon, who has researched the four-day week and its implications for employees and companies.
“The purpose of a four-day week is to allow employees to work differently,” she said.
“People can benefit from a better work-life balance – more time for themselves and more time with their families.”
She is not alone in extolling its benefits.
This summer Nature published the results of an international study (excluding France) into the four-day week, finding it reduced burnout, increased job satisfaction and improved the mental and physical health of workers.
So will France follow suit? It should, said Ms Bouchet.
Rethinking the relationship to work has been a “really big deal” since Covid-19, she explained.
“People want a different work-life and there has been a need for companies to respond. They have found the four-day week a good way to let employees know they are doing something for them.”
But what about the economic effect on these firms?
“There have been experiments in other European countries, such as Iceland, and these trials have shown there is a positive result on productivity.
“You might think that if people only work four days there they will achieve less.
"In fact, these studies show that when you work fewer hours you are more productive because you spend less time doing things like chatting during coffee breaks – you concentrate on the necessary tasks.
“A four-day week also allows firms to attract the most talented people. So the results for the company are positive.”
However, bosses should not cram five days of work into four, she warned.
“Companies have to reduce workload if they want to implement the four-day week well. If people do a week’s work in four days, the working days are longer, more intense, and in the evening employees can be stressed and exhausted.”
A good option, Ms Bouchet said, “is to have the four-day week but reduce the work hours, maybe to 32 hours, to compensate for the non-working day”.
France's attitude to work
France has yet to embrace the four-day week, partly because of attitudes to work.
“In France we have a basic view about work that quantity is better than quality. The time you spend at work is more important than the quality of your work.
“The challenge is for employees and managers to accept that we have to disrupt these traditional norms, adopt a more human managerial culture and be more interested in the quality of the work,” said Ms Bouchet.
She added that certain companies will embrace the four-day week more easily than others.
Younger firms, such as start-ups, are “more flexible”, while small and medium-sized firms have “more of a family relationship with employees so it’s easier to discuss [changes]”.
She added: “It can be more difficult in the public sector and in large firms because of their hierarchical structure, but it is not impossible.”
The success of a four-day week may also depend on the specific industry.
“In physical jobs, if you allow your employees to do four days in 35 hours, the day will be longer and the physical impact higher.
“In service industries, the issue is the closure day. If your company has a four-day work policy, it’s not necessarily the same case for your clients and customers.”
Some 77% of French people favour a four-day week, according to a survey by the Baromètre de l’Économie AGPI, Challenges and BFM Business, published in 2024.
Studies have shown that women are particularly keen.
“Women often have to combine work responsibilities with personal ones – taking care of their children, their home, their families.
The four-day week is an opportunity to have a longer weekend so they can do all this,” Ms Bouchet said.
However, not all workers are so receptive: “It really depends on personality.
It can be difficult for some people because if you have an extra day off you don’t have the same social interaction with your colleagues, your managers or your clients.”
Generally, however, Ms Bouchet feels things are moving in the right direction.
“It is good to see France evolve on this subject; it shows that people want to do better, create a nicer life for employees, a better life for the company, that they want to identify solutions.”
