Chinese firm adopts 3.5-day workweek with no pay cut

A Chinese company has drawn attention by introducing a 3.5-day workweek with no reduction in pay. The firm cut actual working hours to 26 per week and adjusted workloads and performance evaluation standards accordingly.

Waijuan Culture, a cultural content company based in Changsha, Hunan Province, recently announced it would implement the 3.5-day workweek for all employees, according to local Chinese media reports Monday.

Employees work from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, with actual daily working hours totaling 7.5 hours excluding lunch breaks.

On Thursdays, staff work from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — an effective 3.5 hours. Friday through Sunday are days off, bringing the weekly total to 26 working hours.

Salaries remain unchanged despite the reduction in working days and hours.

Existing welfare benefits — including China's social insurance and housing provident fund contributions — are also preserved. The company said it would lower weekly workload targets and performance benchmarks in proportion to the shorter hours.

Overtime is discouraged in principle. When unavoidable, the extra hours are logged and compensated with a separate allowance.

Female employees receive one paid menstrual leave day per month. Full-time staff are also offered benefits covering movie tickets and some cultural activity expenses.

A company official told local media that personal experience with unnecessary overtime and long working hours had influenced the decision to adopt the new system.

The company said its policy is to focus on improving work efficiency rather than extending hours, and to reduce unnecessary meetings and reporting procedures.

The company is a recently established startup, and observers note it remains to be seen whether the 3.5-day workweek can be sustained over the long term. Locally, attention continues to focus on whether productivity can be maintained after the reduction in hours and what the actual intensity of work will look like.

In China, efforts to introduce more flexible working hours are emerging not only at the corporate level but also among some local governments.

Mianyang, in Sichuan Province, last year piloted a 2.5-day weekend model — linking Friday afternoons with the weekend — along with a 4.5-day flexible work arrangement, as part of a policy to stimulate consumer spending.

Mianyang's policy differs from a blanket reduction in total weekly working hours, however. It encourages the use of annual and paid leave and allows qualifying institutions and businesses to designate Friday afternoons as time off.

Other regions, including Hebei, Jiangxi and Chongqing, have previously encouraged similar 2.5-day weekend arrangements. Some localities have also operated flexible work schemes allowing employees to take Friday afternoon leave during specific periods.

Amid ongoing debate over long working hours in China, calls for work-life balance are growing, particularly among younger workers. The 3.5-day and four-day workweek models, however, remain limited to a handful of companies and regions and cannot yet be considered the norm in China.