Dozens of British employers trialling a four-day working week have mostly decided to stick with it after a pilot hailed as a breakthrough by campaigners for better work-life balance.
Employees at 61 companies across Britain worked an average of 34 hours across four days between June and December 2022, while earning their existing salary. Of those, 56 companies, or 92%, opted to continue like that, 18 of them perma-nently.
The trial is the largest in the world, according to Autonomy, a British-based research organisation which published the report alongside a group of academics and with backing from New Zealand-based group 4 Day Week Global.
While the findings may be interesting for com-panies struggling for talent, other surveys show very few other British employers plan a four-day week soon.
The Autonomy trial covered 2,900 staff in total across different sectors, ranging from finance com-pany Stellar Asset Management to digital manufac-turer Rivelin Robotics and a fish-and-chip shop in the coastal town of Wells-next-the-sea.
The majority agreed productivity had been maintained.
Staff said their well-being and work-life balance had improved while data showed employees were much less likely to quit their jobs as a result of the four-day week policy. “This is a major breakthrough moment for the movement towards a four-day working week,” Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said in a statement.
‘More work done in less time’ Paul Oliver, chief operating officer at Citizens Advice Gateshead, said job retention and recruitment had improved and sickness levels had gone down during the trial.
“Staff are getting more work done in less time,” he said.—AFP
