Episode Details

Back in March 2018, an insurance company from New Zealand started a landmark trial with its company staff. It decided to trial a four-day working week. Almost 250 staff at Perpetual Guardian took part.早在 2018 年 3 月，新西兰一家保险公司开始对员工进行一项具有里程碑意义的试验：他们决定试行每周四天工作制。大约有 250 名来自 Perpetual Guardian 的员工参与了这项试验。

We're looking at the pros and cons of working a four-day week. Right, Jackie. So that New Zealand company, what was the result of their trial? The employees completed surveys before they did the trial and after they did the trial.我们现在要讨论每周四天工作制的利与弊。好的，Jackie。那么那家新西兰公司，他们的试验结果如何？员工们在试验前和试验后都填写了问卷调查。

And it was upon reading the results that the company declared it was a great success and decided to adopt the new schedule full-time.在看到调查结果后，公司宣布试验非常成功，并决定永久采用这一新的工作安排。

OK. So why was it such a great success then? Well, there were three factors that they looked at.好的。那么它为何如此成功？他们主要从三个因素进行评估。

And overall, staff reported lower stress levels, higher levels of job satisfaction. Interesting. And also an improved sense of work-life balance.总体而言，员工表示压力降低、工作满意度提高——很有趣——而且工作与生活的平衡感也有所提升。

OK. That sounds obvious. The employees loved it. What did the firm get out of it?好的，这听起来很合理。员工很喜欢。那么公司从中获得了什么呢？

Actually, because there was less stress, productivity increased. People who enjoy their job at the end of the day work better. Fantastic.实际上，由于压力减少，生产力反而提高了。喜欢自己工作的人最终会做得更好。太棒了。

But actually, the four-day week, it's nothing new, is it? No, they've had it in America for some time. Richard, the difference is, in America, you still work 40 hours, right? But you just do it over four days.不过事实上，每周四天工作制并不新鲜，对吧？对，美国很早以前就有了。Richard，不同之处在于，美国人仍然工作 40 小时，只是把这 40 小时压缩在四天内完成。

So you still do the same number of hours as you did in five days, but you do it in the four days.也就是说，你工作时长一样，只是从五天集中到四天中。

Exactly. You're working a 10-hour day instead. The important thing here was that people worked fewer h