ThredUp CEO warns five-day workweek firms they’ll lose talent battle

(SeaPRwire) –   Locating the ideal pair of jeans takes patience and an openness to testing items that might not fit right away. ThredUp has built its entire business around this concept—offering people a second chance to find what works for them and a guilt-free way to let go of what doesn’t.

Just like a well-fitting pair of jeans, the same logic applies to ensuring your employees are a good match and treated with care. That’s the mindset James Reinhart had while leading the beloved secondhand resale company. When he saw the results after introducing a four-day workweek—satisfaction, retention, and creativity all soared—he didn’t overcomplicate things. A good fit makes something worth holding onto, just like those jeans.

“It was a top-level decision,” the ThredUp co-founder and CEO said during his presentation at ’s Workplace Innovation Summit in Atlanta on Tuesday, speaking on a panel titled “Burnout Is Breaking Work” moderated by ’s Indrani Sen. “We’re not going back.” And that’s why, Reinhart argues, his company will have a competitive edge in attracting top talent while other firms still stick to a five-day workweek.

Reinhart rolled out the four-day workweek during the pandemic after noticing that when employees had full control over their schedules, productivity surged and, as he put it, typical retention metrics went “through the roof.” So when other companies started pushing for a return to the office as the pandemic eased, Reinhart decided the four-day schedule would become a permanent part of ThredUp’s operations.

Malissa Clark, a psychology professor at the University of Georgia and author of “Never Not Working,” has data to back up Reinhart’s observations. She pointed to research from the global four-day workweek movement—conducted via psychometrically rigorous trials across multiple companies—which found that all of a company’s fears about a four-day workweek are likely unfounded.

“All of the well-being metrics were going up, burnout was going down, turnover was going down,” Clark said. “But companies always care about the bottom line, and this is the most exciting part: revenue went up in the majority of these companies, and it’s sustained over time.”

What surprised Clark most was that 96% of employees in those trials said they wanted to keep the four-day workweek, and a whopping 15% stated they would not return to a five-day schedule for any amount of money. “That I thought was shocking,” Clark told the crowd.

AI is bringing talent wars

Reinhart’s argument for the policy has grown beyond ThredUp’s own data. In a world where AI is rapidly reshaping how work gets done, Reinhart believes the four-day week is the competitive edge to attract exceptional talent—and companies still using a five-day model risk falling behind.

“Those exceptional employees are going to want to work at ThredUp four days a week,” he said. “And you’re going to be competing against companies like mine for these exceptional people. And you’re going to lose.”

Part of that appeal lies in how employees feel with the four-day workweek. “Rested employees and genuinely happy employees are way more creative,” Reinhart said. “When people come back on Monday morning, they’ve gone on hikes, spent time with their kids and families. They’re ready to be the best version of themselves.”

“They’re not going to spend the first four hours of Monday getting back in the groove and reminding themselves why they still want to work here.”

Clark agreed with Reinhart’s observations but warned that the four-day workweek shouldn’t be about cramming a 40-hour week into four days—it should be a genuine reduction to 32 hours that respects an employee’s life outside work. “The bottom line with the four-day work week is shaving those eight hours off,” Clark said, echoing Reinhart’s point that happy employees are more creative. “The best ideas sometimes come to me when I’m on my walk or in the shower,” she said. “Not when I’m working on something for six hours in a row.”

With that much-needed work-life balance and rest, and Reinhart’s predictions of AI reinventing the future workplace, Clark advocated for at least one positive outcome from AI’s impact.

“With every technological revolution, there are these predictions,” Clark said. “Can we please, for the love of God, implement those predictions, and at least shave off a day?”