Microsoft Japan 4-day work week experiment sees productivity jump 40%
CNBC reported that Microsoft Japan closed its offices on Fridays in August 2019 for its roughly 2,300 employees and that the company announced sales per employee up about 40 per cent on August 2018, lower electricity use and fewer printed pages. The report notes that the comparison was with a different year and not a controlled baseline, and that Microsoft also credited shorter meetings and more remote conferencing, so the effect of the shorter week cannot be isolated. The figures come from Microsoft's own announcement.
CNBC reported that Microsoft Japan closed its offices on Fridays in August 2019 for its roughly 2,300 employees and that the company announced sales per employee up about 40 per cent on August 2018, lower electricity use and fewer printed pages. The report notes that the comparison was with a different year and not a controlled baseline, and that Microsoft also credited shorter meetings and more remote conferencing, so the effect of the shorter week cannot be isolated. The figures come from Microsoft's own announcement.
Written from the cNBC report of 4 November 2019, read 2026-10-27.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
4 November 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/04/microsoft-japan-4-day-work-week-experiment-sees-productivity-jump-40percent.html