In recent news, Panasonic, the global electronics and home appliances giant, introduced the four-day work week as an option for its employees. The President and Group CEO stated that this initiative could help the company to "flexibly accommodate diverse situations of our employees”.

Against this growing demand for flexibility and a more empathetic work environment, the 4-day work week comes as a strong measure designed to benefit everyone. But does it work?

To better understand the pulse of corporate India and gain a deeper insight into the overall response to the concept of a 4-day work week, we spoke to founders, country heads, and HR leaders from various organizations across multiple sectors around the country.

Our survey pointed us to examine whether there really is a need for a new work week. An overwhelming 67% of our respondents said that they do not see the need to change the existing work week i.e. 5 days a week X 8 hours a day. Most agreed that employee mindsets as well as their work-life structure were already planned around a 5-day work week and companies may be biting off more than they can chew by trying to introduce this change. However, around 33% admitted that the existing workweek was not equipped to achieve the objective of higher productivity and work-life balance.

60% of those surveyed agreed that this new concept might lead to a positive impact in the workplace, boosting productivity and happiness among employees. Interestingly, this also involved respondents who believed that the existing 5-day model was equally effective.

One of the core reasons behind this is the expectation that a 4-day work week will drive better focus at work and also provide employees with ample ‘free’ time to focus on their personal growth.

While the 4-day work week elicits a broadly positive response, at least in theory, there are many nuances to be considered – from cultural factors to the nature of business and industry.

However, with the large-scale implementation across market-leading organizations and economies, there will be enough case studies to give corporate India the confidence it needs in slowly transitioning to a 4-day work week.