A four-day compressed workweek could deliver meaningful savings for Filipino workers, but the policy may also dent earnings in the country’s public transport sector, according to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
PCCI president Perry Ferrer said employees could reduce transportation expenses by roughly 20 percent if they commute to work only four days instead of the traditional five.
“For workers who rely on public transportation, the savings are straightforward—one less day of travel each week means about 20 percent less spent on fares,” Ferrer said.
The same principle applies to those who drive to work. A compressed schedule would mean fewer trips to the office, translating to lower fuel consumption, parking expenses and other travel-related costs.
The four-day workweek structure compresses the standard 40-hour schedule into four days—typically requiring employees to work 10 hours daily instead of the usual eight. The arrangement allows workers to keep their full weekly pay while cutting a day of commuting, offering some relief as transportation and fuel costs remain volatile.
Several companies in the Philippines have already begun implementing the system since 2025, particularly in sectors where output can be measured through deliverables rather than strict office hours.
But while workers may benefit from lower commuting costs, Ferrer warned that public transport operators could face unintended consequences.
Jeepneys, buses and other mass transport vehicles typically operate on fixed routes and schedules, meaning they must continue running even if passenger demand declines. With fewer employees traveling during the workweek, passenger volumes could fall, reducing daily earnings for drivers and operators.
“Instead of full jeepneys or buses, there may be fewer passengers,” Ferrer said, noting that operators’ fuel consumption and maintenance costs would remain largely unchanged despite lighter loads.
The uneven impact underscores a broader challenge for policymakers considering wider adoption of compressed work schedules.
Transport operators—many of whom rely on daily ridership for income—may struggle to absorb lower passenger volumes, especially as fuel costs remain a major operating expense.
Because of these trade-offs, Ferrer said a four-day workweek cannot be applied uniformly across all industries. Sectors that depend on physical presence, such as transportation, retail and some service industries, may find the model harder to adopt.
For business groups like PCCI, the debate ultimately reflects a balancing act: improving worker welfare and productivity while ensuring that ripple effects across the broader economy—particularly among informal and transport workers—are carefully managed.
