Hey there. Orianna here from Fortune.

COVID-19 gave us hybrid work. The Iran war might give us a three-day weekend. That’s because, as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan move to a four-day work week due to the war in Iran, experts told me we’re the closest we’ve ever been to a permanently shorter workweek.

It started in Asia, but now major governments around the world are once again mandating that workers stay home to save on fuel and survive an energy crisis as the war in the Middle East threatens vital oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

What began as an emergency measure in the developing world is now spreading globally.

Sound familiar? We’ve been here before: The last time the white-collar world was forced to shift en masse—the onset of the pandemic—the changes we thought would be temporary became permanent. Hybrid work didn’t die when offices reopened. Instead, it reshaped how we work.

Now, with governments reaching for the same lever again, experts say something similar could happen with a four-day workweek—and as radical as it sounds, it could stick: AI is already rewriting what productivity means; stagnant wages and “peanut butter raises” have left workers disengaged; and across the world employers are already trialling a four-day work week anyway.

That last part is what makes this moment hard to ignore. This isn’t an untested idea, it’s one with a growing body of proof behind it.

And, frankly, once people get a taste of a shorter week—even a forced one—history shows it’s hard to take back.

—Orianna Rosa Royle
Success Associate Editor, Fortune

Are you already working a four-day week? Get in touch: orianna.royle@fortune.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and Instagram.