The thought of a four-day working week is an appealing prospect for many and thousands of British employees have now signed up… with no loss of pay.
A hundred companies in the UK have signed up to the idea, meaning 2,600 staff will now benefit from a new working pattern. And, of course, three days off a week, the Guardian reports.
Proponents of the four-day week say that workers will be just as productive than if they were on for five days and many firms obviously agree. It just doesn’t benefit staff, as it is believed companies that offer the new working plans can be more attractive than others, while it should be easier to retain personnel.
Two of the biggest companies to sign up are global marketing company Awin and Atom Bank, who each employ around 450 staff in the UK. Adam Ross, Awin’s chief executive, said implementing the four-day week was “one of the most transformative initiatives we’ve seen in the history of the company”.
He said: “Over the course of the last year and a half, we have not only seen a tremendous increase in employee wellness and wellbeing but concurrently, our customer service and relations, as well as talent relations and retention also have benefited.”
When Atom Bank announced it was heading for a four-day week, CEO Mark Mullen said: “We believe the 20th-century concept of a five day week is, in many cases, no longer fit for purpose for 21st-century businesses. At Atom, we feel the time is right for the next evolution in the world of work.
“A four-day week will provide our employees with more opportunities to pursue their passions, spend time with their families, and build a healthier work/life balance. We firmly believe that this will prove beneficial for our employees’ wellbeing and happiness and that it will have an equally positive impact on business productivity and customer experience.”
The UK campaign is also co-ordinating the world’s biggest pilot scheme for about 70 companies, which employ about 3,300 workers, to adopt the four-day week in a trial with researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, Boston college and thinktank Autonomy.
In September, 88 per cent of those firms in a survey at the middle of the trial said the four-day week was working well for their business at that stage of the trial. About 95 per cent of the companies surveyed said productivity had either stayed the same or improved since the introduction.
Joe Ryle, the UK campaign’s director, said: “We want to see a four-day week with no loss of pay become the normal way of working in this country by the end of the decade. We are aiming to sign up many more companies over the next few years.”
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