Four-day week: ‘major breakthrough’ as most UK firms in trial extend changes
Nearly all companies taking part opt to continue with new pattern as staff report better work-life balance
The vast majority of companies taking part in the world’s largest trial of a four-day week have opted to continue with the new working pattern, in a result hailed as evidence that it could work across the UK economy.
Of the 61 companies that entered the six-month trial, 56 have extended the four-day week, including 18 who have made it permanent.
The findings will be presented to MPs on Tuesday as part of a push urging politicians to give all workers in Britain a 32-hour week.
Joe Ryle, the director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, called the trial a “major breakthrough moment”, adding: “Across a wide variety of sectors, wellbeing has improved dramatically for staff; and business productivity has either been maintained or improved in nearly every case.
“We’re really pleased with the results and hopefully it does show that the time to roll out a four-day week more widely has surely come.” At Sheffield-based Rivelin Robotics, one of the participating firms that plans to continue with the new approach, the chief product officer, David Mason, said he hoped offering a shorter working week would help with future recruitment. “It’s certainly something that makes us a little bit different from the average.”
The UK pilot, whichkicked off last June, has been promoted by 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit organisation founded in New Zealand, and overseen by the thinktank Autonomy and a team of academics.
Companies taking part were offered workshops and mentoring to help them rethink working practices. Staff were given the opportunity to remain on their existing salary, working across four days instead of five. In total, about 2,900 employees across the UK have taken part in the pilot. Surveys of staff taken before and after found that 39% said they were less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% said it was easier to balance work and home responsibilities. The number of sick days taken during the trial fell by about two-thirds and 57% fewer staff left the firms taking part compared with the same period a year earlier. The vast majority of companies reported that they were satisfied with productivity and business performance over the trial period. The 4 Day Week Campaign has said it would now like to see many more employers take the plunge, and is lobbying the government to encourage change legislating to give staff the right to request a four-day pattern.
Ryle, of the campaign, said: “The economy doesn’t need us to be working five days a week any more. It was 100 years ago, the shift to a fiveday week, and the economy’s transformed since then.”