4 day working week trail launches in UK
What would you do with an extra day off each week?
Last updated 18th Jan 2022
It’s been teased for years now, but now more than ever we’ve been experimenting with our ‘normal’ work life.
More than 30 companies have signed up to a new pilot scheme led by 4 Day Week Global, alongside the thinktank Autonomy and the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Boston College.
Participating companies and organisations will trial a four-day week with no loss in pay for employees.
The study running alongside, the study aims to measure the impact of a shorter work week on wellbeing, productivity, and gender equality in the office.
This pandemic has provided workers and employers with an opportunity to consider the way they work, leading many to rethink and alter how they do things, including the possibility of playing with their office/home ratio.
Just last year, a pilot programme launched in Ireland, with businesses following a six-month system, with the hope that this would lead to a better work/life balance and to increase company productivity.
Numerous studies have shown that moving to a four-day week boosts productivity and workers’ wellbeing, the organisers claim.
A move to a four-day week could also be good for the planet. According to reports, it could see a reduction of around 127 million tonnes of carbon per year – equivalent to taking 27 million cars off the road.
The six-month experiment will test the benefits of a four-day working week with the aim of delivering consistent output with no loss of pay.
It won’t necessarily mean a three-day weekend, but adopting new rostering and working arrangements that allow businesses to stay open 5 days a week – or even longer – while enabling every worker to have a shorter working week.
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