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Governments in Portugal and Japan are turning to innovative labor reforms to address demographic decline and work-life balance issues, particularly as both nations continue to grapple with falling birth rates.
Portugal’s government has partnered with 4 Day Week Global to pilot reduced-hour work models across 41 companies, with 21 of them initiating a six-month trial in mid-2023.Â
Early findings point to promising results: employee burnout dropped significantly, work-life balance improved, and most participants showed reluctance to return to a traditional five-day schedule unless pay increases were offered, according to The Portugal News.Â
Building on this momentum, the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, will begin testing a four-day workweek in the public sector, aiming to enhance productivity and employee satisfaction.Â
The regional administration has also expressed intentions to expand the initiative to the private sector, contingent on mutual agreement between employers and workers.
Meanwhile, in Japan, local authorities are also taking action. As the country reports its ninth consecutive year of declining birth rates, Tokyo’s municipal government implemented a four-day workweek in April 2025.Â
The policy aims to support employees — particularly those with young children — by promoting flexible schedules, remote work options, and reduced hours. The city currently offers a flexitime model allowing one extra day off every four weeks, which will now be extended to enable a full extra day off weekly.
These changes are unfolding against a backdrop of growing demographic challenges; Japan recorded just over 720,000 births in 2024, with declines across all 47 prefectures, exceeding government projections.Â
Portugal saw a smaller drop, though births slightly rebounded in early 2025.Â
Both governments appear to be leveraging shorter workweeks as part of a broader strategy to create more family-friendly working conditions, with the hope that greater flexibility might ease the strain on working parents and ultimately support population growth.
