[UK] Success of four-day workweek trial declared ‘major breakthrough’

The results are in from the latest large-scale four-day week study in the UK and, once again, productivity apparently remained stable while employee satisfaction increased dramatically, Yahoo reports.

These are the findings of the biggest ever four-day week pilot, involving 61 companies in the UK. 56 have decided to continue with the changes.

The trial was run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign, and researchers at the University of Cambridge and Boston College.

The companies and organisations participating in the six-month trial reportedly ranged from small local businesses such as a local fish and chip shop to large corporates with around 2,900 employees.

Employees involved in the pilot saw their working week reduced from five days to four, with no associated loss of pay.

The results showed that the majority of companies saw business performance and productivity maintained, with an average rise of 1.4 per cent in revenue across the organisations.

Around 92 per cent of participating businesses reportedly continued with the four-day week after the pilot ended and eighteen of those declared the policy a permanent change.

Stress and burnout for employees were both reported to have significantly declined; 71 per cent of workers reported lower levels of burnout

Reported levels of anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues also reportedly decreased, while mental and physical health both experienced improvements.

Simply brilliant

Environmental consultancy Tyler Grange is one of the firms making the change permanent. It tracked the effects of the trial on its staff using an app.

According to Tyler Grange, employee happiness increased by 14 per cent and workers were also 28 per cent less tired.

Commenting on the positive effects on Tyler Grange’s staff, managing director Simon Ursell said employers should not be afraid of the four-day working week but instead, “they should embrace it”.

“We’ve already been approached by a number of businesses to share our advice and learnings - helping them to determine how they too can make the switch to a three-day weekend,” Mr Ursell said.

“We’re able to demonstrate, first-hand, how challenges of the four-day working week can be overcome and the many holistic benefits that can be enjoyed as a result”.

Mr Ursell said signs of the four-day week becoming mainstream in the UK is “simply brilliant” however he added that the transition “provoked negative responses amongst some,” due to the often uncomfortable nature of change.

The UK pilot results come just over a month after another trial run by the same organisations - involving 33 companies and almost 1,000 employees across countries including the US, Ireland and Australia - reported similar findings.

In that study, none of the participating companies intended to return to a five-day week and 96.9 per cent of employees reportedly said they wanted to continue with the shorter working week.

In addition, workers reported significant improvements in the indicators of stress, burnout, and fatigue, while work-family conflict decreased and physical and mental health showed a positive shift.

Major breakthrough moment

Joe Ryle - Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign - described the UK trial as a “major breakthrough moment”.

“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. Surely the time has now come to begin rolling it out across the country,” he said.

The results were presented to MPs at an event in the UK’s Parliament earlier this week.

In January, South Cambridgeshire District Council became the first local authority in the UK to trial a four-day week. Early results reportedly showed reduced stress levels for staff and no negative impact on service delivery.

Source: Yahoo

(Quotes via original reporting)

The results are in from the latest large-scale four-day week study in the UK and, once again, productivity apparently remained stable while employee satisfaction increased dramatically, Yahoo reports.

These are the findings of the biggest ever four-day week pilot, involving 61 companies in the UK. 56 have decided to continue with the changes.

The trial was run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign, and researchers at the University of Cambridge and Boston College.

The companies and organisations participating in the six-month trial reportedly ranged from small local businesses such as a local fish and chip shop to large corporates with around 2,900 employees.

Employees involved in the pilot saw their working week reduced from five days to four, with no associated loss of pay.

The results showed that the majority of companies saw business performance and productivity maintained, with an average rise of 1.4 per cent in revenue across the organisations.

Around 92 per cent of participating businesses reportedly continued with the four-day week after the pilot ended and eighteen of those declared the policy a permanent change.

Stress and burnout for employees were both reported to have significantly declined; 71 per cent of workers reported lower levels of burnout

Reported levels of anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues also reportedly decreased, while mental and physical health both experienced improvements.

Simply brilliant

Environmental consultancy Tyler Grange is one of the firms making the change permanent. It tracked the effects of the trial on its staff using an app.

According to Tyler Grange, employee happiness increased by 14 per cent and workers were also 28 per cent less tired.

Commenting on the positive effects on Tyler Grange’s staff, managing director Simon Ursell said employers should not be afraid of the four-day working week but instead, “they should embrace it”.

“We’ve already been approached by a number of businesses to share our advice and learnings - helping them to determine how they too can make the switch to a three-day weekend,” Mr Ursell said.

“We’re able to demonstrate, first-hand, how challenges of the four-day working week can be overcome and the many holistic benefits that can be enjoyed as a result”.

Mr Ursell said signs of the four-day week becoming mainstream in the UK is “simply brilliant” however he added that the transition “provoked negative responses amongst some,” due to the often uncomfortable nature of change.

The UK pilot results come just over a month after another trial run by the same organisations - involving 33 companies and almost 1,000 employees across countries including the US, Ireland and Australia - reported similar findings.

In that study, none of the participating companies intended to return to a five-day week and 96.9 per cent of employees reportedly said they wanted to continue with the shorter working week.

In addition, workers reported significant improvements in the indicators of stress, burnout, and fatigue, while work-family conflict decreased and physical and mental health showed a positive shift.

Major breakthrough moment

Joe Ryle - Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign - described the UK trial as a “major breakthrough moment”.

“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. Surely the time has now come to begin rolling it out across the country,” he said.

The results were presented to MPs at an event in the UK’s Parliament earlier this week.

In January, South Cambridgeshire District Council became the first local authority in the UK to trial a four-day week. Early results reportedly showed reduced stress levels for staff and no negative impact on service delivery.

Source: Yahoo

(Quotes via original reporting)