Canon is set to trial a new four day working week in the UK, allowing employees to work fewer hours on the same salary – with supermarket giant Morrisons following closely behind.
The British arm of the camera giant will trial a three day weekend with no loss of pay, as part of a six-month trial run by academics at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford.
The pilot will see staff from different organisations completing the usual amount of work, and up to 35 hours each week, but split over four days rather than five.
It comes amid growing interest in the potential benefits of giving workers an extra day off.
The pilot programme will be run in conjunction with academics, the UK 4 Day Week Campaign and the thinktank Autonomy. It is being overseen by 4 Day Week Global, a campaign group based in New Zealand.
Six companies have signed a deal so far, with the group aiming for 30 in total across the UK.
Canon Medical Research, which develops AI software, will run the trial among its 140 employees.
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Ken Sutherland, the president of Canon Medical Research Europe, said: “We recognise that working patterns and the focus we all give to our work-life balance has changed substantially during the pandemic.
“As a responsive employer we are always looking at how we can adapt our working practices to ensure that employees find their time with us is meaningful, fulfilling and productive. For this reason, we’re keen to pilot a four-day week to see if it can work for us.”
The four-day week, will cut one day out of the working week with no loss of pay.
Think tank Autonomy argues its benefits include increased productivity and improved staff retention.
Job site Adecco says it can also relieve pressure on working parents but highlighted the fact that it is not possible in all industries and could lead to more workplace stress as staff cram more work into fewer days.
The four-day working concept first picked up momentum during the 2019 December election, when Labour floated a policy of a 32-hour working week with no loss of pay within ten years.
Atom Bank moved permanently to a four-day week in November – giving staff the flexibility of a three-day weekend. Panasonic this year said it would make the shorter week optional among its workforce.
Several influencer agencies have already adopted it, including Engage Hub, whose employees will have either a Wednesday or a Friday off, rotating every eight weeks.
Other large companies looking at the four-day week include Unilever, the maker of consumer goods ranging from Marmite to Dove soap.
UK supermarket chain Morrisons has also said it would introduce the measure for employees at its Bradford headquarters, according to The Guardian.
Internationally, in August 2019, Microsoft Japan implemented a four-day week giving 2,300 employees five Fridays off in a row.
The company said productivity jumped 40%, meetings were more efficient, and workers - who were also happier - took less time off.
In Iceland, a four day working week trial was carried out between 2015 and 2019 and labelled an “overwhelming success” by researchers.
Workplaces that took part, including hospitals and schools, moved from 40 hour weeks to 36 or 35 hours with some reporting an improved level of productivity among employees.
The trial eventually involved more than 2,500 workers, equal to approximately 1 per cent of Iceland's workforce.
Will Stronge, at think tank Autonomy, said: “This study shows that the world's largest ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success.
“It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks - and lessons can be learned for other governments.”
Joe O’Connor, pilot programme manager for 4 Day Week Global, said the concept will “herald in a bold new future of work” during 2022.
Mr O'Connor said: “More and more businesses are moving to productivity focused strategies to enable them to reduce worker hours without reducing pay.
“The four-day week challenges the current model of work and helps companies move away from simply measuring how long people are “at work”, to a sharper focus on the output being produced. 2022 will be the year that heralds in this bold new future of work.”
List of 40 companies currently offering a four day week
- 3D Issue - a digital publishing platform
- Advice Direct Scotland - an advice hub
- Autonomy - an independent thinktank
- Big Potato Games - a board game company
- Blink - a specialist digital marketing agency
- CMG Technologies - 3D metal moulding
- Causeway Irish Housing Association - a not-for-profit organisation provind temporary accommodation for young single homeless people
- Charlton Morris - a specialist search firm
- Common Knowledge - a not-for-profit building digital tools for grassroots organisers
- Contour Couture - an aesthetics company
- Crystallised - a marketing agency
- Datalase - laser equipment supplier
- Earth Science Partnership - a consultancy of engineers, geologists and applied environmental scientists
- Elektra Lighting - lighting consultants
- Entrepreneurs Circle - a business development service
- Evolved - search marketing specialists
- Four Day Week Ltd - a jobs site for four day week and flexible roles
- Geeks For Social Change - software developers, activists and researchers with a social agenda
- Gracefruit - a cosmetics company
- Highfield Professional Solutions - an employment agency
- Legacy Events - an events management company
- MRL - a specialist recruitment company for high technology and financial markets
- PTHR - a design, development and change consultancy
- Punch Creative - a digital marketing agency
- Reboot - a digital marketing firm
- Resilience Brokers - working to improve climate resilience
- Reward Agency - a marketing agency
- STOP AIDS - a HIV and AIDS charity
- Sinister Fish Games - a board game company
- Social Enterprise Direct - a technological solutions company
- Softer Success - working with employees to prevent burnout
- T-Cup Studios - helping employee wellbeing
- Target Publishing - an independent publisher
- Technovent - a supplier of medical products for the body prosthesis sector
- The Circle - hub for charities, social enterprises, community groups and businesses
- The UPAC Group - a packaging supplier
- Venture Stream - a digital marketing agency
- YWCA Scotland - a movement of women leading change
- flocc - a digital marketing agency
- streamGO - an events platform
