4 Day Working Week Strategy
In 2022 over 60 UK companies with nearly 3000 employees conducted a six month trial of a four day working week. Globally 91 companies have now participated in this pilot.
91% of those companies have decided to either permanently implement the four day working week or continue with the pilot, 4% are leaning towards continuing and only 4% said they definitely wouldn't implement it.
The pilot reported that revenues remained broadly the same based on the same period the previous year, it had a positive impact on attracting talent with 71% of employees reporting lower levels of burnout, sick days decreased by 65%.
The pilot was based on the 100-80-100 model which means 100% pay for working 80% of their previous hours with a commitment to maintain 100% productivity.
The benefits of the 4 day working week are:
- Improved morale
- Decreased sickness / absences
- Ability to attract talent
- Provide flexibility
There are also some disadvantages and further research is needed in some areas:
- It doesn't suit all industries
- It doesn't suit all employees
- It could increase costs, particularly in industries that provide 24/7 support
A common misconception for employees when you discuss the 4 day working week with them is that they will get Friday or Monday off, it is a big change to open the discussion with your teams as of course business continuation means that the company won't just shut down on a Friday or Monday in most cases.
Most companies can't just absorb all staff being able to have an additional day off per week, more efficient processes need to be put in place to create slack within the business, the purpose of doing a 4 day week is not to burn employees out in 4 days so that they are using the extra day to recover.
We are able to support you with a full assessment to determine how a 4 day working week would impact your business, if you would like to discuss please do get in touch.
