Thank God It's Thursday?

After years of talking about the four-day work week, only about 60 U.S. companies, with a total of 11,000 employees, have yet adopted it. But last week Chrysler Corp., which employs 153,000, agreed to set up a joint committee with the United Auto Workers to study the feasibility of switching to a four-day schedule followed by three days off. If such a schedule becomes part of a new contract, it could provide a powerful impetus for a shorter work week in the U.S.

There are many potential advantages to what is called "the 4-40 week" (to emphasize the fact that workers would still put in 40 hours in four ten-hour days). For Chrysler, it holds a promise of higher worker morale and lower absenteeism, which now ranges up to 20% of the industry's work force on Fridays and Mondays. Consumers might benefit as well--from a squeezing out of "Monday-morning lemons." On days like Monday, when absenteeism is high, auto companies are forced to put inexperienced workers on the line and usually turn out a higher proportion of poorly assembled cars than on other days.

Columbia Economist Eli Ginzberg, chairman of the National Manpower Advisory Committee, raises one minor objection. If all blue-collar workers ultimately gain a four-day week, he warns, then teachers will demand the same --and parents will have to figure out what to do with the kids on Friday.

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