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The world’s biggest trial of a four-day working week was today hailed as a ‘major breakthrough’ after most companies said they would continue with shorter hours after the end of the experiment.
The pilot saw 61 UK companies reduce working hours for all staff by 20 per cent for six months from June last year, with no cut in wages. At least 56 said they planned to continue with a four-day week, with 18 having already adopted the policy.
Staff said they found it easier to balance work both family and social commitments and that their mental and physical health improved from having an extra day off, while the average firm reported a slight revenue increase over the trial period.
However, sceptics argue a four-day week is less suited to certain industries, such as hospitality and healthcare, and risks crippling business by driving up costs and causing worker shortages.
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin was among those casting doubt on the scheme, which he warned would push up prices in pubs.
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin was among those casting doubt on the idea of a four-day week, which he warned would push up prices in pubs
‘In a supermarket, wages are about 8% or so of sales. In a pub, wages are about 34% of sales,’ he told MailOnline.
‘If a four day week pushed up the cost of labour, it would affect pubs more than supermarkets (due to their higher labour costs) , pushing up the relative price of a pint
‘The effect would be more intense in smaller pubs , creating problems for tenants, for example, with labour scheduling, due to the requirement for more employees per pub.’
Citizens Advice in Gateshead took part in the trial, which was coordinated by campaign groups 4 Day Week Global and 4 Day Week Campaign in the UK, think tank Autonomy and academics from Cambridge and Boston College.
However, CEO Alison Dunn said it was not yet ready to commit to a permanent four-day week, which she said had forced the charity to spend more money hiring more staff to cover shifts if its contact centre.
‘It has absolutely worked in the majority of the business,’ she told the BBC.
‘But there are some areas of the business where the jury is still out as to how effective it will be.’
Critics argue the concept would be impossible in customer facing jobs, or 24/7 operations including where overtime payments would present an extra cost to employers or the taxpayer.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO of social enterprise Stemettes, said shifts could be organised so not all staff were off at the same time.
‘There are lots of different ways to do it. Not everyone has to have Fridays off – you could have a slightly different shift pattern. Where there’s a will there’s a way,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Dr Imafidon said her firm, which has 21 employees, gave staff Fridays off. She said it would continue with the policy but monitor employees to ensure they were maintaining ‘a certain level of output’.
Sectors that were able to adapt easily to flexible working during the pandemic, such as finance, are generally seen as more willing to embrace the prospect of a shorter week.
A City stockbroker pointed to Dubai as an example of how the initiative could work.
‘One issue is that you’d need to fit people’s weeks around market opening hours,’ he told MailOnline.
‘If everyone goes off on a Friday, for example, then the market will still be open. And it’s linked to the global economy, with different markets opening at different times.
‘It’s not impossible but it would require a bit of work. Dubai has a half day on Friday, which might be one way to do it.’
Accountancy giant PWC told employees they could finish early on Fridays over the summer, while FinnCap, a UK stockbroker, offers staff unlimited holidays.
Claire Daniels, CEO at Trio Media, said that revenue at her business – which had £450,000 sales last year and is budgeting for £650,000 this year – had increased during the trial
Alison Dunn, CEO of Citizens Advice in Gateshead, said the charity was not yet ready to commit to a four-day week
The results of the trial revealed a significant drop in the rates of stress and illness among the approximately 2,900 staff trying a shorter working week.
Around 39% of employees said they were less stressed compared with the start of the trial, and the number of sick days taken during the trial dropped by around two thirds.
People were much more likely to stay in their jobs, despite the trial taking place amid the ‘great resignation’ period where workers have been quitting at record rates in search of greater flexibility, the report said.
There was a 57% drop in the number of staff leaving the participating companies compared with the same period the previous year.
And levels of anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and burnout decreased substantially, while more staff reported that balancing care responsibilities had become easier.
The results even found that company revenue increased slightly by 1.4% on average over the trial period, and by a much higher 35% when compared to the same six-month period in 2021.
However, several staff at one large company reported concerns about increasing workloads, finding their work intensified or they were battling to work through lengthy to-do lists in the time available.
The results also revealed that some managers and staff felt the focus on efficiency had made the workplace less sociable, which was a particular concern for the creative companies involved.
But Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said the trial is ‘major breakthrough moment’ for the campaign towards a four-day working week.
‘Across a wide variety of different sectors of the economy, these incredible results show that the four-day week with no loss of pay really works’, Mr Ryle said.
‘Surely the time has now come to begin rolling it out across the country.’
Organisations across a range of industries took part. Eight firms were in the marketing and advertising sector, followed by seven in professional services such as an asset management firm in Liverpool and an insurer in London.
Changes in revenue at companies before they took part in the trial to afterwards
Fewer employees reported suffering from sleep difficulties and insomnia
Staff also said they had more time to do hobbies outside work
Five firms in the charity and non-profit sector took part, including Citizens Advice in Gateshead in Tyne and Wear.
There were also firms in the education, finance, healthcare and online retail sectors involved – and even a fish and chip shop in Norfolk.
Each one was charged up to £10,000 to take part, MailOnline has learned.
Most firms chose to give all their staff Fridays off, while some said they could take Monday or Friday, and others opted for no common day off among staff.
In September last year, when companies reached the halfway point of the trial, it was revealed that not all had found the transition to a four-day week easy.
On a scale of one to five indicating how smooth the shift had been, with a grade of one representing ‘extremely smooth’, 22 per cent did not rate the move to a shorter week one or two.
However, about 95 per cent of the companies surveyed said productivity had either stayed the same or improved since the introduction.
Claire Daniels, CEO at Trio Media, said that revenue at her business – which had £450,000 sales last year and is budgeting for £650,000 this year – had increased during the trial.
She added: ‘The four-day week trial so far has been extremely successful for us. Productivity has remained high, with an increase in wellness for the team, along with our business performing 44 per cent better financially.’
Other bosses who didn’t take part in the scheme but already operate a four-day working week praised the idea, including Robert Bolohan, co-founder of London translation service Lotuly
‘I’ve been running our agency remotely for eight years now with my wife, we’ve also implemented a four-day work week gradually,’ he said.
‘We sometimes work on Mondays or Fridays but not both. This works well for our clients and the different time zones and also for our team who loves being off on Fridays to have a long weekend and come refreshed on Monday to start the week with full force.’
Samuel Mather-Holgate, an independent financial advisor at Mather and Murray Financial, added: ‘A four day week could be a great thing for employees, employers and the government.
‘If workers are having one extra day off, but producing the same output in four days, rather than five, this means there’s one extra day for them to spend in the general economy stimulating tax receipts.’
Employees were asked to report whether they ‘would like to spend more time’ on a range of activities
The majority – 92 per cent – of participating companies said they intended to continue with a four-day working week after the trial, and 30 per cent confirmed they had made it permanent. Pictured: Participating companies’ plans for after the trial
Dr David Frayne, a research associate at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into realistic policy, with multiple benefits.’
The researchers insisted the results show the four-day week is ‘ready to take the next step from experimentation to implementation’.
‘The benefits of a shorter working week for no reduction in pay are now both well-known and well-evidenced: employees are happier and healthier, and the organisations they work for are often more productive, more efficient, and retain their staff more readily’, it concluded.
The campaigners and academics will present the results at an event in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
It is being chaired by Peter Dowd, a Labour MP who brought forward the 32-Hour Working Week Bill in October, which would reduce the maximum working week from 48 hours to 32 hours for all British workers.
Last year, a survey revealed that nearly three in four UK employees wanted to move to a four-day working week after the pandemic.
The cost of living crisis – including the price of the commute – and childcare issues are major reasons why so many are pushing for fewer hours and more flexibility.
Several ‘influencer’ agencies are already operating a four-day working week, including Engage Hub, whose employees will have either a Wednesday or a Friday off, rotating every eight weeks.
Companies in Japan are also increasingly switching to four-day weeks to improve the work-life balance for its employees.
