According to Facer, it was the crash of 1929 that led to the five-day week. "Before that it was common to work six-day weeks with 12 to 14-hour days. When the Great Depression hit, the idea was to share work around to get more people into employment." During the next big financial crisis in the 1970s, there was much talk of moving to a four-day week, but for a variety of reasons that didn't pan out. "Things are different now," says Facer. "I wouldn't be surprised if we could get 50 per cent or more of the workforce working four-day weeks in the next few years." Next up: the three-day week.