Halfway through a six-month trial in the U.K., businesses allowing employees to work four days per week say they’re satisfied with the results.
According to the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global, 88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working well for their business at this stage in the trial. And 86% say they’re either extremely likely or likely to continue it after the trial period ends.
Overwhelmingly, they found the transition wasn’t difficult. According to a survey, on a 1-to-5 scale with 5 being extremely smooth, 29% responded with a 5, 49% selected 4, and 20% selected 3.
The survey found 46% saying productivity was kept at the same level, with 34% reporting a slight improvement and 15% seeing a significant improvement.
At a nonprofit called Waterwise, there were some hurdles. “We have all had to work at it — some weeks are easier than others, and things like annual leave can make it harder to fit everything in — but we’re much more settled with it now overall than we were at the start,” said Nicci Russell, managing director there, who added that Waterwise’s productivity is higher.
An anonymous respondent said it’s not a matter of cramming in the same work into shorter hours but instead rethinking the value of day-to-day work.
The trial in the U.K. is of more than 70 organizations and 3,300 employees. The workers get fully paid at their five-day levels but commit to maintaining 100% of their previous output. In the U.S. and Canada there are 60 companies trying out the four-day week, with over 4,000 employees, according to 4 Day Week Global.
