A large-scale test of the UK’s four-day workweek, conducted between June and December 2022, has largely won over companies that have been experimenting with it, according to organizers’ findings released on Tuesday.
More than 60 companies participated in this experiment, which enabled almost 3,000 employees to work one day less per week for the same salary. The test was organized by the club 4-day week worldwideincluding the Universities of Cambridge and Boston College.
The results “show that almost all companies will move on to the 4-day work week after the process,” with more than nine in 10 saying they will certainly move on, according to a press release. Only 4% of companies say they will definitely quit.
The experience has been “very, very positive” and the difference can be seen “every day” in the staff, said Nathan Jenkinson, client director at Tyler Grange, an environmental consulting firm that has taken over the four days for good now.
Employees “come to work at the start of the week on Monday much more positively and with a lot more energy after three days of rest,” he continued.
The company’s turnover increased slightly (+2%) during the test phase, absenteeism fell by 66% and the number of applications increased by 88%.
In general, the study shows that companies have not been penalized by these lighter weeks.
Revenues remained stable on average during the experiment (+1.4% during the trial) and even showed a 35% increase compared to the same period in 2021. Companies also experienced fewer layoffs or absenteeism, according to the researchers.
The study further finds “significant improvements in physical and mental health, time spent exercising, and overall life and work satisfaction,” with rates of stress, burnout, and reduced fatigue and sleep problems.
Most companies chose to give everyone their Friday, “and it worked particularly well when teams had to work together at the same time,” Brendan Burchell, a sociologist at the University of Cambridge, told AFP.
But depending on needs, some at other companies took Mondays or found “creative solutions,” such as more days in winter and fewer in summer in the case of more seasonal jobs, the researcher said.
Originally, 70 companies signed up to take part in this project, but nine gave up before it started, organizers say, mostly because the companies didn’t feel ready enough.
Experiments with the four-day week have recently multiplied in Europe, but also in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.