Dissecting the Four Day Work Week – Everything You NEED to Know So Far
There’s only one month left to go in the UK Four Day Workweek Pilot Programme, and with the majority of companies partaking in the trial stating that, “they would be ‘extremely likely’ and or ‘likely’ to consider retaining the four-day week policy after the trial period”, things are looking good – and dare we say it… better?
What is the “Four Day Workweek” you might ask? This pilot programme is “a coordinated, 6-month trial (June to November 2022) in the UK of a 4 day week, with no loss in pay for employees. It runs alongside similar pilot schemes taking place in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The pilot is being coordinated by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the UK think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University.” With 72 companies partaking in the trial – that’s around 3,300 workers total – this is one of the largest studies to date, according to Jack Kellam, a researcher at Autonomy.
This trial comes at a time where the world is functioning at an almost-normal level post-pandemic, and with it, the prioritization of employee wellbeing and mental health moving towards 2023.
During the pandemic, there was a large focus on the location of employees – were they working from home, in a hybrid model, or required to be in-office? With 82% of employees reporting overwhelm, stress, anxiety and depression, there are only so many things an employee’s location can help ease. “Remote and hybrid work can bring many benefits, but it doesn’t address burnout and overwork.” said Joe O’Connor, the chief executive of 4 Day Week Global.
As we slowly come out the other end of the pandemic, there has been a significant shift towards discovering if a different length of workweek would be able to improve employee wellbeing. It was found that 78% of employees with four day workweeks feel happier and less stressed, so it’s a no-brainer that companies would be trying this out for themselves.
The most interesting part of the whole trial has been the results to come out of it. Here are some of our favourite findings from the halfway mark back in September:
46% of respondents say their business productivity has ‘maintained around the same level’, while 34% report that it has ‘improved slightly’, and 15% say it has ‘improved significantly;
On how smooth the transition to a four-day week has been (with 5 being ‘extremely smooth’ and ‘1’ being ‘extremely challenging’), 29% of respondents selected ‘5’, 49% selected ‘4’ and 20% selected ‘3’;
88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working ‘well’ for their business at this stage in the trial;
And our favourite four day workweek fact?
63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent with a 4 day week.
Now, the Four Day Workweek may not be for every company out there – just as how different working models can benefit organizations in different ways. However, with results and data coming out like the ones stated above, we definitely think that the Four Day Workweek should be on most company radars.
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