More than nine out of 10 companies that adopted a four-day working week in the UK will continue to use the more flexible way of operating, according to the findings from a six-month trial.
Of the 61 companies that participated in the pilot, 18 said they would maintain the four-day working week on a permanent basis because of evidence of benefits from the arrangements. A further 38 stated they were going to continue with the trial.
The six-month trial in the second half of last year was organised by campaign group 4 Day Week Global, think-tank Autonomy and researchers at Boston College and the universities of Cambridge and Oxford.
The trial organisers want to make a four-day week the new default, based on a model of 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time, in exchange for a commitment to delivering 100 per cent of the output.
Companies that signed up to the trial ranged from education and consultancy businesses to banking, IT, retail and recruitment groups, and involved almost 3,000 workers.
Businesses adopted a range of approaches for the four-day week, including offering Friday off to staff. Other companies let staff work 80 per cent of their previous hours on a flexible basis.
Revenue at participating companies rose on average more than a third over the trial period compared with the same time in 2021. The number of staff leaving companies fell significantly.
Lead researcher Professor Juliet Schor, of Boston College, said: “Results are largely steady across workplaces of varying sizes, demonstrating this is an innovation which works for many types of organisations.”
Many companies in the UK have introduced greater flexibility for their staff since the coronavirus crisis, based around a combination of working from home and the office, although some are starting to return to pre-pandemic arrangements.
Sceptics of trials of four-day working weeks argue such pilots are self-selecting, which makes staff dropouts less likely.
There are also concerns that productivity gains might deteriorate once the revised working arrangements are made permanent.
The trial organised by 4 Day Week Global found shorter working hours improved employees’ wellbeing, with four in 10 staff saying they felt less stressed and close to three-quarters stating they had reduced levels of burnout.
Employees also said that they found it easier to balance their work with family and social commitments.
The researchers found little difference in outcomes across different business sectors.
Initially, 70 companies signed up for the trial organised by 4 Day Week Global. Nine decided against participating because of a lack of preparation, difficulties with measuring performance and concerns that workers would not achieve their expected outputs.
