UK: Four-day week pays off, with increased employee well-being

In the UK, employees have been trying the four-day week for three months now. The first results are promising.

If many companies have decided to start working from home since the Covid-19 pandemic, a new change could be implemented in the way we work.

Indeed, an experiment is in the test phase at the UK . For three months, more than 3,300 employees have been working four days a week. This week shortened would improve employee morale, work quality and company revenue.

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Although they work at 80% and four days per week, employees keep 100% of their salary. In three months, some companies have already seen promising results.

“The organizations in the UK pilot project provide real-time data and insights that are worth their weight in gold. Essentially, they're laying the groundwork for the future of work by putting a four-day week into practice, across every size of business and nearly every industry, and telling us exactly what they're finding as they go. » , said Joe O’Connor, the CEO of 4 Day Week Global, the non-profit organization that organizes the project.

Improved employee morale

This experience is positive. 88% of participants said that the four-day week was beneficial for their business, which is a significant percentage. 46% of participants reported an increase in productivity in their business, and 98% of respondents said the transition was easy to make.

“Productivity remained high, with an increase in team well-being, as well as 44% better financial performance for our company” , said Claire Daniels, CEO of Trio Media.

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Faced with such productivity, 86% of companies plan to leave this permanent change and continue to work for four days even when the experience is over.

“We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are understandable obstacles, especially among those with relatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems or cultures that date back well into the last century” , said Joe O’Connor.

The experience lasts six months. Businesses still have three months to see if their productivity and employee well-being are still up.