BE 636：企业是否应该转向四天工作制？

这里是商务英语播客第636集。

This is the Business English Podcast episode six thirty six.

公司应该改为每周四天工作制吗？

Should companies switch to a four day workweek?

欢迎收听来自All Ears English的商务英语播客。

Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.

获得你在全球商务中实现梦想所需的英语技能。

Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.

无论是做演示、开会，还是参加公司派对，这里都有你喜欢的美国主持人Lindsay和Aubrey带来的真实商务英语，她们分别来自美国的亚利桑那州和科罗拉多州。

For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

你好，Lindsay。

Hello, Lindsay.

你今天怎么样？

How are you today?

我今天很好，Aubrey。

Doing great today, Aubrey.

今天我们商务英语要聊什么？

What are we getting into on Business English today?

我们要讨论工作时间。

We are talking about working hours.

你对四天工作制这个趋势怎么看？

What do you think about this trend toward a four day work week?

我知道很多护士的工作安排比较密集，就是每天工作时间更长，但每周工作天数更少。

I mean, I know a lot of nurses have this kind of more intensive schedule, so longer days, but but shorter weeks.

我觉得这可能有点道理，因为这也取决于你做什么样的工作。

And I think there could be something there, you know, because it depends on what kind of work you're doing too.

如果工作需要长时间高度集中注意力，那这种安排可能有帮助。

If it requires intensive focus for longer periods of time, it could be helpful.

然后一周结束时你确实需要休息。

And then you need the break at the end of the week.

你觉得呢？

What do you think of?

谁不喜欢三天周末呢，对吧？

Who doesn't love a three day weekend, right?

当然，但是

Of course, The

不过如果还是每周工作四十小时的话，那每天就是十小时了。

longer days though, if you're still doing a forty hour week, then they're ten hour days.

那确实挺麻烦的。

That's tricky.

但我最近在新闻里看到很多这样的报道。

But I have seen this popping up so much in the news lately.

所以我们打算分享几篇最近的文章，聊聊里面讲了什么。

So we're going to share a few recent articles and just kind of what was covered in them.

我们分享这些也是因为很多大公司的CEO和行业领袖都预测了他们认为在美国或者全球会发生的事情。

And we're also sharing because a lot of CEOs of major corporations, industry leaders have given predictions for what they think is going to happen in The US or worldwide.

这确实很适合跟同事、朋友或者家人聊起来，会很有意思。

And this definitely makes for a really interesting conversation with coworkers or with friends and family.

所以我们很兴奋。有意思。

So we're excited Interesting.

来深入探讨这个话题。

To dive into this

好的。

All right.

那我们就来深入聊聊这个话题。

So we're going to dive into this topic.

这里面的内容可不少。

There's a lot here.

这绝对是个很有意思的话题，适合在节目里聊。

This is going to be a really fun topic to talk about on the show.

首先，记得点关注，因为如果你喜欢我们聊这些文化话题的方式，朋友们，我们不仅会聊文化热点，还会教你怎么通过这些话题和别人建立联系。

So first hit the follow button because if you love the way we approach these cultural topics, guys, we not only talk about what's up in culture, but we also show you how to build on connection by talking about these topics with someone.

没错。

Exactly.

点一下关注按钮。

Hit the follow button.

对。

Yes.

太棒了。

Awesome.

所以，是的，如你所知，很多欧洲国家实行四天工作制，最近世界其他地方也在效仿。

So yeah, as you know out there, many European countries offer a four day workweek and lately other parts of the world are following suit.

我看到的一篇文章是克里斯·刘写的，标题是《东京政府给员工四天工作制，以促进生育率和家庭时间》。

So one of the articles I saw was by Chris Lau and it was called Tokyo Government Gives Workers four Day Workweek to Boost Fertility Family Time.

这真的很吸引人，东京为政府雇员引入四天工作制，涉及16万名政府雇员。

So this was really fascinating how Tokyo is introducing a four day workweek for government employees, 160,000 government employees.

这是2025年4月的事。

This was in April 2025.

有趣的是，这不仅仅是为了更长的周末。

And it was interesting how it wasn't just about, you know, longer weekends.

这是为了让家庭有更多时间相处，从而提高生育率。

It was about more family time for families in order to boost fertility rates.

考虑到生育率下降，这说得通。

That makes sense with a declining fertility rate.

现在很多国家都有这个问题。

I mean, many countries have that right now.

在很多人看来，这算是一种危机。

This is sort of a crisis in many people's perspective.

这……

This...

他们尝试这样做是有道理的……

It makes sense that they tried...

他们正在尝试这个办法。

That they're trying this.

所以这个措施目前正在实施中。

So this is currently in action.

奥布里，这件事现在在日本正在发生吗？

This is happening right now, Aubrey, in Japan?

没错。

Exactly.

仅限于政府工作。

For just government jobs.

对。

Yep.

对。

Yep.

好的。

Okay.

正是如此。

Exactly.

所以就是压缩工时，仍然是四十小时。

So it was, you know, the compressed hours, forty hours still.

所以就是每周工作四天，每天十小时，然后三天周末，这样应该能改善工作与生活的平衡。

So four ten hour days, three day weekends, which would hopefully improve work life balance.

而且还有额外的育儿假选项，这应该也有助于应对低生育率的问题。

And also there were additional childcare leave options that should also help with those low birth rates.

而且这是全球性的现象。

And this is worldwide.

在美国，出生率也低了很多。

In The United States birth rates are a lot lower too.

我认识的每个年轻人，要么不打算要孩子，要么可能就生一两个。

Every young person I know is like either not planning on having kids or maybe one or two.

这确实在世界各地都在发生。

This is certainly happening all over the world.

公司肯定会在考虑工作时间时想到一点。

Definitely companies are going to be thinking about this when they consider working hours.

对，没错。

Yeah, exactly.

是什么……

What was...

给我们多讲讲这个想法的背景，以及它在日本是怎么运作的。

Give us more information about the thinking and how it's been working in Japan.

我们还知道些什么？

What else do we know?

而且呢，还有……

And well, was also...

所以这不仅仅关乎生育率。

So it's not just about fertility rates.

这还关系到一个严重的过度工作文化，当时确实有推动改变的意愿，希望这能起到作用。

It also was about an intense overwork culture that There's had been definitely a push toward that as well, hoping that this would help.

像你刚提到的，美国的护士常常是这样的排班，而且这确实有助于减少那种超负荷工作。

Like you were saying, nurses in The US often have had this type of schedule and it does help you eliminate that intense overwork.

如果你能工作四天，然后有一段更长的休息时间，可以和家人朋友相处，那会很有帮助。

If you can work four days and then have a longer chunk of time off to spend with friends and family.

所以有趣的是，这个政策在很久以前就已经实施了。

So it's interesting to see, you know, this was put into effect some time ago.

但到目前为止，只有政府雇员享受到了这个政策。

It has not expanded out to anyone other than government employees.

就像你在节目开头说的，Lindsay，这也取决于行业。

And it's like you said at the top of the episode, Lindsay, it depends on the field as well.

取决于公司。

It depends on the company.

取决于你从事的工作类型。

It depends on the type of work you're doing.

所有这些因素都会影响这个政策是否可行。

All of those things will have a factor about where this can work.

对，但我能看出这很有用，因为我们得去看牙医。

Yeah, but I could see it being useful because we have to have a we have to go to the dentist.

有时候我们得去看医生，但我们可以把所有预约都安排在周五，对吧？

We have to go to the doctor sometimes, but then we could place all of our appointments on Fridays, right?

虽然周五很难约到号。

Even though it would be hard to get an appointment on a Friday.

对，有可能。

Right, potentially.

然后我们就能更专注。

And then we could be more focused.

我真的很喜欢高强度的专注工作，对吧？

I I really like intensive focused work, right?

而不是像，让我休息几个小时再回来工作，那样会让工作感觉更漫长，对吧？

Instead of like, let me take a few hours off and then come back to the work that makes the work feel longer, right?

是的，所以我觉得如果我只是，比如周五完全不工作，我会喜欢这样，你知道吗？

Yes, So I I think I would like this if I just had like I'm not working at all on Fridays, you know?

而且如果大家都不工作，这似乎可行，但会带来一些麻烦。

And it seems like it would work if nobody were, but it would cause some complications.

所以……

So...

不过挺有意思的。

But it was interesting.

我还看到一篇文章，标题是《大型四天工作制研究指出：当我们工作五天时，其中有一天基本上什么也没做。》

I also saw an article that was called Major four Day Workweek Study suggests that when we work five days, we spend one day doing basically nothing.

对，我觉得这个发现特别吸引人。

Yeah, this I found fascinating.

这是Orianna Rosa Royal在2026年4月写的，发表在fortune.com上。

This was by Orianna Rosa Royal, April 2026, and that was in fortune.com.

这点真的挺有意思的。

And this was really interesting.

文章里有一段话这么说：在客户电话、会议和任务之间，我们可能会觉得工作周的每一分钟都被塞得满满当当，但事实上，大家其实都在拖延。

So here's a quote from the article that said between client calls, meetings and assignments, it may feel as if every minute of our working week is squeezed to the max, but as it turns out, we are all just procrastinators.

研究数据显示，员工在三十三小时内完成的工作量，跟三十八小时里做的差不多。

That's according to research that shows workers can get as much done in a thirty three hour week as in thirty eight hours.

这真的很有意思，对吧？

This is really interesting, right?

有研究表明，如果你一周工作五天，有很多事情你会拖到周五，然后花时间填满，如果你压缩工作周，你能完成的工作量其实是一样的。

We had this study that was showing that when you're working for five days, there are a lot of things that you're pushing to Friday that you're putting off filling time and if you compress the work week, you would get just as much done.

这真的很有意思。

That's really interesting.

这其实是一个原则，对吧？

Mean, we know that it's a principle, right?

工作会自动膨胀，占满所有可用的时间。

Work expands to fit the time allotted.

我们知道，时间越少，效率往往越高。

We know that we can be more efficient often if we have less time.

只是我们换了一种方式工作，而且在如何分配时间上也变得更聪明了，对不对？

It's just that we do the work differently and we also get smarter about our choices about how we'll spend that time, right?

是的。

Yes.

我们

We

不可能什么都做。

can't do everything.

那么在这段时间里，最重要的事情是什么？

So what's the most important thing to do in this period of time?

没错，对吧？

Exactly, right?

我们不得不更加主动地去管理和安排任务的优先级。

We become more proactive about managing, prioritizing tasks because we have to.

我们没有时间把事情推迟到以后，或者去做那些可能不需要太多关注的事情。

We don't have the time to put something off until later or to do things that maybe don't require as much attention.

那么有哪些预测呢？

So what are some of these predictions?

我知道杰米·戴蒙，他挺直言不讳的。

I know Jamie Dimon, he's pretty outspoken.

摩根大通的总裁。

The the president of JPMorgan Chase.

我感觉他好像总是在新闻上预言各种事情。

I feel like he's always on the news making predictions about things.

他到底说了什么？

What did he It's have to

这些想法听起来挺有意思的。

interesting to hear these.

他预测技术会改变标准的工作时间，而且他确实认为会减少到三天半。

So he foresees that technology will change the standard work schedule and he actually expects it to go down to three and a half days.

所以就更少了。

So even less.

这很有意思。

That's interesting.

不过我觉得，虽然我是在猜测，但我想他的意思是，就像我们之前说的，AI会带来很多效率提升，对吧？

But I think part I I'm speculating here, but I think what he's getting at is that AI is going to create a lot of, like we said, efficiencies, right?

它可能会取代很多职位，

Is going to take a lot of roles probably,

直到真正需要人类干的活变少。

Until less actual human work will be required.

会有新的岗位被创造出来。

I mean, there'll be new roles that will be created.

所以这么一想，倒也说得通。

So that kind of makes sense if you think of it that way.

这和比尔·盖茨说的挺像的。

It was similar to what Bill Gates said.

他之前被公开问到，社会会不会因为AI带来的效率提升而缩短工作日，就像你说的那样，他预测得更低，说AI效率可能会让每周只工作两三天。

He was publicly questioned about whether society might have a shorter workday just like you're saying due to AI efficiencies and he predicted even lower, a two or three day workweek driven by AI efficiency.

所以问题就是，如果工作时间那么少，我们还能不能拿到足够的工资来维持生活，对吧？

So the question is could we still sustain, you know, can we still be paid enough to make ends meet if we're working that few of hours, right?

那会是什么样子呢？

What's that going to look like?

这个问题真有意思。

Really interesting question.

Zoom的Eric Yuan预测，标准工作周会变成三到四天。

And Eric Yuan from Zoom, predicts a standard three to four day work week.

我在想这离我们有多远。

I'm wondering how far off this is.

我知道……

I know...

说实话，我觉得离完全用AI替代很多工作还有一段距离。

I think we're still a bit off from being able to fully replace a lot of jobs with AI, honestly.

我倒想听听他们预测具体是什么时候，对吧？

I would love to hear their predictions for when, right?

他们就说是在未来。

They're like this in the future.

多快呢？

How soon?

而且这也只是个预测。

And it's still just a prediction.

他们也不知道，对吧？

They don't know, right?

也许十年吧。

Maybe ten years.

对，肯定的。

Yeah, for sure.

埃隆·马斯克怎么看？

What does Elon Musk think?

对，他认为先进的AI和机器人会让人类劳动变得完全可选，很多工作会消失。

Yeah, so he thinks that advanced AI and robotics will make human labor completely optional and that a lot of jobs would go away.

这挺有意思的。

That's interesting.

你能想象吗，比如……

Can you imagine like what...

这是个更大的话题。

This is a bigger conversation.

这其实就是在说AI。

This is really about AI.

想想我们现在的这段对话。

Think this conversation here.

但如果我们不再需要工作了，我们该怎么办？

But what what do we do when we don't need to work anymore?

那具体是怎么运作的呢？

I mean, what like how does it work?

会不会有足够多的创新性工作，需要批判性思维的那种，还是说这些也会被AI取代？

Does it Would there be enough innovative jobs that were that are the critical thinking or will that be replaced by AI as well?

这太疯狂了。

It is crazy.

我们正处在一个这么激动人心的时代，不是吗？

Are around in such an exciting time, aren't we?

但有趣的是，技术创新和AI跟每周工作时间的关系有多大，因为正是这个在推动变化。没错。

But it is interesting how much this relates, you know, innovation in technology and AI, how that relates to the work week because that's what's necessitating Exactly.

变化

Change

这就是变化的来源。

That's where this is coming from.

有意思。

Interesting.

好的。

Okay.

我们的听众怎样才能开始讨论这个话题呢？

How could our listeners attempt to start a conversation about this?

和朋友？

With friends?

和演讲者？

With speakers?

我们该从哪里开始？

Where would we go?

我们会怎么做？

What would we do?

所以这在工作休息室或办公室里会是个很好的话题。

So this would be a great conversation in the break room, at work.

这个话题聊起来很有意思，或者跟朋友聊也行。

This is interesting to talk about or just with friends.

你可以问一个问题：你宁愿每天工作十小时、一周四天，还是每天八小时、一周五天？

One question you could ask is, would you rather work four ten hour days or five eight hour days?

所以这挺有意思的。

So this is interesting.

一个有趣的二选一问题。

An interesting would you rather.

如果你有选择的话，你会选哪个？

If you had the option, what would you choose?

那你呢，Aubrey？

What about you Aubrey?

你更愿意选哪个？

What would you rather do?

我觉得我会选五天八小时。

I think I would stick with the five eight hour days.

一天十个小时真的太长了。

A ten hour day is really long.

强度大，确实很累。

Intense really tough.

那你呢？

What about you?

我喜欢高强度。

I like intensity.

可能不太可持续。

It might be less sustainable.

我也不确定，因为那样的话你可以在三天周末休息，对吧？

I don't know because then you would rest on the three day weekend, right?

我可能会

I would probably

想试试看。

want I to would try try it.

但如果我不喜欢的话，我希望还能有退路。

I would want the option to be able to go back if I hate it.

对，当然。

Yeah, of course.

或者换个话题来聊。

Or another way to start a conversation.

你觉得四天工作制会让员工更有效率还是更低效？

Do you think a four day work week would make employees more productive or less productive?

你知道吗？

You know?

对，这个也很有意思。

Yeah, this is interesting too.

这和那篇文章有关。

It's related to that article.

你甚至可以分享说，其实我看到过这项研究，我们每周工作四天和五天一样高效。

And you could even share that be like, actually saw this study that we're just as productive working four days as five days.

那会很有趣，因为俗话说得好，事实胜于雄辩，但看起来这已经被证明了。

That would be interesting because the proof is in the pudding as they say but it seems like that's been proven.

对，你可以问人们，你觉得哪些工作适合这种四天工作制？

Yeah, you could ask people what kinds of jobs do you think are well suited to this four day work week?

我觉得护理工作确实挺合适的，对吧？

I guess nursing does make sense, right?

因为班次更长。

The longer shifts.

你还能问些什么呢？

Else could you ask?

我邻居的儿子是消防员，他也有类似的，更像是医疗轮班，对吧？

My neighbor's son is a firefighter and he has that same, it's more like a medical shift, right?

就像上四天班，然后休四天，其实有很多工作都挺适合这种排班的。

It's like four days on, And four days there are a lot of jobs like that that are well suited to that type of schedule.

所以这也是个很有意思的话题，可以问问别人，你的工作适不适合这种安排，或者你觉得还有哪些工作最适合这种模式？

So this is an interesting conversation too, to ask someone, would this work for your job or what other jobs, what do you think, what are the best jobs for this type of, schedule?

然后你还可以问别人，如果你们公司改成四天工作制，假设啊，会对你的工作生活平衡有什么影响？

And then you could ask someone if your company switched to, hypothetically speaking, to a four day work week, you know, how would it affect your work life balance?

有些方面可能会更糟，因为你每天要上十个小时的班，那……

In some ways it would be worse because you're working ten hour days and that's...

上班前下班后你什么都干不了。

You're not doing anything before or after work.

有些方面又会更好，因为你可以去度个长假，周末也能好好放松，而不是忙着准备下周的事情。

In some ways it would be better because you could take longer trips and yes, relax on the weekend instead of get ready for the next week.

对，你看这就能引出很多有意思的对话。

Yeah, you can see how this is going to lead to really interesting conversations.

大家可能都想过这个问题，也都有自己的看法，而且观点还挺鲜明的。这种对话往往很有意思，因为你在听别人讲道理的时候，自己的想法可能也会慢慢改变。

People likely have thought about it, they likely have something to say, strong opinions, and it's going to be one of those interesting conversations where your thoughts might sort of adjust as you hear someone else's reasoning.

对。

Yes.

对，当然。

Yes, for sure.

那我们一起聊聊这个话题吧。

So let's talk about it together.

我们来做个角色扮演，Aubrey。

Let's go through a role play, Aubrey.

我们是同事，一起吃午饭聊天。

We're coworkers chatting over a lunch.

太好了。

Perfect.

我先开始吧。如果可以选择，你愿意每周工作四天、每天十小时，还是五天、每天八小时？

I'll start us If you had the option, would you rather work four ten hour days or five eight hour days?

我想我会选择每周工作四天。

I think I'd choose a four day week.

能有个三天的周末，肯定能让我好好恢复精力，避免过度疲劳。

Having a three day weekend would definitely help me recharge and avoid burnout.

你呢？

How about you?

哎，这个有点难说。

Ah, it's tricky.

一天十个小时确实太长了。

Ten hour days are really long days.

我不确定自己能不能一整天都保持精力充沛。

I'm not sure I'd have enough energy to be productive the entire day.

说得有道理。

That's a good point.

也许如果我知道能多休息一天，那些更长的工作日我也会更有动力。

Maybe if I knew I'd have an extra day off, I'd stay motivated those longer days.

确实。

True.

还有其他需要考虑的因素，比如客户服务。

There's also other considerations like customer service.

如果客户周五需要帮助，那还是得有人值班。

If our clients need help on Fridays, someone would still have to be available.

没错。

True.

但我们可以把时间表错开。

But we could stagger the schedules.

一半团队可以周一休息，另一半周五休息。

Half the team could take Monday off and then the other half could take Friday off.

这样整个星期办公室都能有人。

That way the office would stay open all week.

对，这样也行。

Oh yeah, that would work.

理想情况下，员工应该能选择传统工作时间或压缩工作周。

Ideally, employees would be able to choose between a traditional schedule and a compressed work week.

好了，这就是我们的对话。

Alright, so that was our conversation.

可能跟我们自己私下聊的差不多，如果我们真的聊过的话。

Probably pretty similar to what we would have said personally if we had Exactly.

而且这挺有意思的。

The And it's interesting.

这个话题可以有很多不同的走向，对吧？

This could go lots of different ways, right?

你可以更假设性一点。

You could get more hypothetical.

可以引入这个，还有那个三天工作制，我们可能会聊到AI取代工作，或者你知道的，很多这类变化，这也让对话变得很有趣。

Could bring in this and what about three day we could end up and then I could definitely see how this could lead to talking about AI replacing jobs or you know lots of those types of changes which is also makes for an interesting conversation.

现在很多对话都会往那个方向走。

A lot of conversations lead in that direction nowadays.

其实我几年前跟Alex Xuzhan Kim Pong聊过这个话题，他写了《四天工作制》这本书。

That's I actually had a conversation about this topic a couple years ago with with Alex Xuzhan Kim Pong and he wrote the book, The four Day Workweek.

那就去看看第1637期，关于全球推动四天工作制的节目。

So go check out episode sixteen thirty seven, The Global Movement Towards a four Day Workweek.

我记得那次采访是在2021年，所以应该是在疫情之后。

I think that interview happened in 2021, so I believe it was post COVID.

我们看到了疫情带来的变化，还有居家办公的变化。

We saw the changes with COVID, with work from home.

有意思。

Interesting.

但那是在AI普及之前，也是ChatGPT公开发布之前，对吧？那是在2022年。

But it was kind of pre AI, pre chat GBT getting launched into just the general public, right, in 2022 is when that So

你可以再和他聊聊，看看有什么变化，现在大家的想法是什么，但找那期节目最好的方法就是在APP上，搜索节目编号就能找到。

talk to him again about, you know, what's changed, what are the thoughts now, but the best way to find that episode is probably on the app, where you can search an episode number and that episode will come up.

你可以在allersenglish.com/app上找到。

So you could find that at allersenglish.com/app.

那是找老节目最好的方式。

It's got really the best way to find old episodes.

没错。

Exactly.

我同意你的看法。

I agree with you.

好的，奥布里，今天的话题真不错。

Alright, great topic today, Aubrey.

也许我们会再邀请亚历克斯来节目，看看现在有什么变化，以及未来的预测。

Maybe we'll have Alex back on the show and we'll have to see what what's changed here and the predictions for the future.

但各位，利用这个话题来交流吧。

But guys, use this topic to connect.

再说一次，大家……

Again, everyone...

大多数人都有工作。

Most people work.

不是每个人都有工作，但很多人都有。

Not everyone works, but many people do.

而且他们很可能有看法，因为这每天都会影响我们和家人之间的互动。

And they probably have opinions because this affects our interactions with our family members on a daily basis.

我们是工作十小时、七小时还是八小时？

Are we working ten hours or seven hours or eight hours?

什么

What are

是的，绝对。

we Absolutely.

多好的一个连接话题啊。

What a great connection topic.

所以就用这些问题吧。

So use these questions.

问同事或家人其中一个问题，听听他们的想法，很有意思。

Ask a coworker or a family member one of these questions and get their thoughts interesting.

好的。

Alright.

听起来不错。

Sounds good.

奥布里，回头见。

Aubrey, see you soon.

太棒了。

Awesome.

下次见。

See you next time.

拜拜。

Bye.

拜拜。

Bye.

感谢收听《商务英语》，这是一档专门为你——追求卓越的全球职场人士——打造的播客。

Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.

想要更多来自“全耳英语”的内容吗？

Want more from All Ears English?

不要错过我们最大最好的播客，每月有800万次下载。

Don't miss our biggest and best podcast with 8,000,000 monthly downloads.

只需搜索All Ears English播客并点击关注，每周就能获得四集新节目，内容涵盖流利度、美国文化、语法等等。

Just search for the All Ears English Podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency, American culture, grammar, and so much more.

或者点击节目备注中的链接。

Or tap the link in the show notes.

记住，我们相信学习英语重在连接，而不是完美。

Remember, we believe connection, not perfection when it comes to learning English.

现在就关注All Ears English播客吧。

Follow the All Ears English podcast now.