The latest national four-day working week trial, involving 17 companies and nearly 1,000 workers, has concluded with a 100% success rate, it was announced on Thursday. All 17 firms have opted to maintain the shorter working week following the trial’s conclusion.
Have your say! Would you like to try a four-day working week, if your job would allow it? How would you feel about it as a customer to a company, or if councils or government departments started doing it? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.
The six-month experiment kicked off last November and was orchestrated by the 4 Day Week Foundation, who champion a “four-day, 32 hour working week with no loss of pay for workers”. They argue that the conventional nine-to-five is an antiquated work pattern that “no longer suits the realities of modern life”.
For employees, the Foundation believes that individuals will relish a superior standard of rest and leisure time, slash childcare and commuting expenses, and alleviate the stress of cramming all personal ‘admin’ into unsociable hours or the weekend. For businesses, they suggest that trials demonstrate that employees are more productive in a four-day week setting, and it makes their companies more appealing for “high quality” talent.
Organisations participating in the most recent trial managed to uphold service levels and key performance indicators whilst noting several benefits for employee wellbeing, according to the report.
A substantial majority of workers reported less frequent burnout, with two out of five enjoying better mental health and nearly half feeling more content with life following trials.
Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, stated: “With greater knowledge, expertise and experience of what it takes to successfully implement a four-day week, we’re really pleased to see such a high success rate.
“People are happier, businesses are thriving, and there’s no turning back. We’ve proved it again and again: a four-day week works and should now be implemented more widely across the economy.”
Alan Brunt, chief executive of Bron Afon Community Housing, home to 420 staff and continuing their pilot, shared: “Almost as soon as we started talking about it, our teams got together to set about making it work which was brilliant.
“We’ve closely monitored our performance and customer satisfaction. We’re happy with the results so far and will continue to make sure we’re delivering for our customers.
“I expect that most organisations will be doing this in the next 10 years or so.”
Have your say! Would you like to try a four-day working week, if your job would allow it? How would you feel about it as a customer to a company, or if councils or government departments started doing it? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.
