LOS ANGELES — After almost two years of working through the pandemic, Michael J. Kim was burned out, the masking, social distancing and coronavirus precautions were draining him and his team.

Kim is the general manager and CFO at Radio Korea, the leading Korean language station in the U.S. He knew something needed to change both for himself and for his employees.

“People were getting up early, coming to work and then by the time they get home it’s almost time for bed, so on Saturday they might already be tired,” he said. After browsing online, Kim came across videos explaining a new model of work: the four-day work week.

The four-day work week is a movement that many companies are embracing across the world. Hours are reduced. Often Friday is done away with entirely, without benefits or the amount of work changing at all.

“Having that extra day really gives them a real weekend, two actual days for rest and play,” he said.

For companies like Radio Korea, the work week is rescheduled with people planning to be out on Friday. Kim doesn’t expect scheduling or production challenges.

“We’re just using our time more wisely, so we might hustle a little more," he said. "It’s very doable. We don’t have to work later on the other days or anything like that.”

Employees at Radio Korea, like Sinwoo Kim, are thrilled. “I’m so glad that I can spend more time with my family and friends. I’ll take care of myself more, doing yoga, cooking — I might even study something,” she said.

Large companies like Kickstarter, Microsoft and Unilever have all trialed the four-day week or implemented it. In Iceland different companies did trial runs of the four-day week and results were positive, productivity remained the same and it reduced burnout.

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a consultant and the author of “Rest: Why you Get More Done When You Work Less” and “Shorter, Work Better, Smarter, and Less — Here’s How.”

Pang supports companies in transitioning to four-day weeks and is an expert in work and technology. Pang said the current five-day, 40-hour work week model is outdated.

“It’s worth recognizing that the eight-hour day is a creation of the industrial era. You had eight-hour days because you could have three factory shifts,” Pang said.

Now Pang said, particularly in the west, we are in a knowledge economy where people can get more done is shorter bursts of time.

In studying work, Pang has found that time can be better managed by companies and in offices.

“Studies tell us that in most offices, people in offices lose two or three hours of productive time every day to overly long meetings, to technology distractions, to interruptions from other people," Pang added.

Pang said by stream lining work and implementing more effective time management practices, hours can be reduced dramatically.

The rise in popularity of the four-day week is coinciding with the great resignation. In 2021, 47.4 million Americans quit their jobs.

The four-day week might entice some back into the workforce.

“It reflects just how deep-seated some of the problems that existed with work before the pandemic turned out to be, and how unwilling millions of laborers are to make the sacrifices necessary to go back to the way things were,” Pang said.

At Radio Korea, Michael J. Kim hopes the shift will encourage all the employees to have a better work life balance.

“Work can become a smaller part of our lives," he said. "People will be able to enjoy more time with friends, and loved ones, doing what they want. That’s the power of this."