4 Day Week Global 7/26/23 4 Day Week Global 7/26/23

Working hours continue to fall for companies a year into their 4 day week

New research from non-profit, 4 Day Week Global, has found that companies’ average working hours continued to fall beyond the conclusion of their six-month 4 day week pilot program. A year after launching their trials, employees’ average work week dropped from a baseline of 38 hours to 32.97, down almost a full hour from the six-month mark.

Crucially, this reduction was not achieved via increased work intensity where people had to speed up and cram five days of tasks into four. Instead, they operated more efficiently and continued to improve these capabilities as the year progressed.

Workers’ experience with the 4 day week also remained highly positive, with an unchanged rating of 9/10 beyond the trial’s conclusion. Self-rated physical and mental health measures improved over 12 months, with employees also reporting increased work-life balance scores.

Lead researcher, Professor Juliet Schor of Boston College said: “Life satisfaction scores remained stable with no significant change from the trial’s endpoint to the 12-month mark. However, job satisfaction showed a slight regression after a year. This suggests the positive effects a 4 day week has on life satisfaction may be more deeply embedded in individuals' overall well-being than in job satisfaction alone. Nonetheless, job satisfaction scores remained higher than baseline.”

Jon Leland, Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter, a US-based non-profit who launched their 4 day week in 2021 said: “The most profound impact was on employee retention. We’ve seen very few people choose to depart the company since the implementation of our 4 day week. This has dramatically improved our ability to meet objectives and key results every quarter. While we were lucky to hit 70% prior to our pilot, we now hit more than 90%. It’s easy to think that a company might have to sacrifice some ambition to implement a 4 day week, but we have only increased the scale of our ambition since its adoption.”

Dr Dale Whelehan, CEO of 4 Day Week Global said: “We’re delighted to see the positive experience people continue to have with the 4 day week beyond the conclusion of our pilot program. A concern we frequently hear is there’s no way the results from our six-month trials can be maintained, as the novelty eventually must wear off, but here we are a year later with benefits only continuing to grow. This is very promising for the sustainability of this model, and we look forward to tracking companies’ experiences well into the future.”

For more information, contact Hazel Gavigan, 4 Day Week Global Director of Communications. Media@4dayweek.com / Hazel.Gavigan@4dayweek.com / +353872932418

Notes to the editor

Average weekly hours at the end of the six-month trial were 33.85.

Levels of burnout increased slightly in the six months after the trial concluded, but most of the original improvement was sustained.

The full report is available to download here

Click here to learn more about our pilot programs

Click here to register for a pilot program information session

4 Day Week Global 5/16/23 4 Day Week Global 5/16/23

Huge success for Australasian 4 day week pilot, new research reveals

Results of an Australasian pilot programme, run by non-profit 4 Day Week Global, reveal the vast majority of companies prefer working a 4 day week where they get 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% of the output. The six-month trial of a 4 day week, which 26 organisations embarked on last August, found that 95% of organisations favour the reduced schedule.

On a scale of 1-10, companies rated the overall trial an 8.2, reporting great satisfaction with business productivity, performance, and ability to attract employees. They also observed a 44% average reduction in absenteeism and 9% reduction in resignations over the course of the pilot.

Employee outcomes were similarly positive, with 96% wanting to continue their 4 day week post-trial. When asked much additional pay they’d require in their next job to go back to five days, over one in three said between 26-50% more, with over one in ten stating no amount of money would induce them to go back.

Promising gender equality and environmental findings were also observed, with commuting time falling by 36 minutes per person per week, and men in heterosexual relationships increasing their share of housework and childcare.

Lead researcher on the programme, Professor Juliet Schor of Boston College said: “The 4 day week has a remarkable capacity to improve employee well-being and social outcomes. Almost two thirds of employees experienced reductions in burnout, while 38% felt less stressed during the trial. People were exercising more, getting better sleep and generally more satisfied with their time.”

General manager at Australian-based company, RentWest Solutions, Michelle Rigg said: “After previously trying to introduce the 4 day week ourselves and failing, we decided to sign up for 4 Day Week Global’s pilot programme. The learnings we received in preparation for the trial were integral to it being a success.

“Our key indicator was our customer experience. Throughout the trial, we had several check points to assess this and although we tried, we found no change to the customer experience – in most cases it had improved. We also conducted several check-ins with the team and at the end of the trial, it was an overwhelming yes to continuing.”

Founder of New Zealand-based company, Brevity Ltd, Matt Bishop said: “As an innovative firm that values productivity optimization and advanced technologies, Brevity Ltd recognises the importance of maximising efficiency. Motivated by the prospect of an additional day off each week, our team proactively prioritised tasks, enhanced processes, and managed their energy more effectively. This heightened focus resulted in increased productivity beyond what we achieve during a typical work week, surpassing client expectations. Moreover, the extra day off provided our team with renewed energy for the following week's productivity drive.

“Brevity Ltd takes pride in being at the forefront of this progressive work model, serving as an industry example and reaffirming our commitment to the success and well-being of our team.”

Entrepreneur and co-founder of 4 Day Week Global, Andrew Barnes said: “These results are a real full-circle moment, as 4 Day Week Global was founded after the success of a similar pilot in my company in New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian, in 2018. It brings me great joy that other businesses in Australasia have discovered the benefits of a 4 day week and I’m glad to announce recruitment for our new trial is now open.”

4 Day Week Global is today launching recruitment for its second Australasian pilot programme. Participants are taught how to redesign their workdays, optimise efficiencies, and reform culture. They gain access to all necessary resources for a successful transition, while their experience is tracked by a team of world-class academics. The non-profit is hosting a series of free online information sessions about the pilot in the coming weeks.

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact media@4dayweek.com

Click here to download the 2023 Australasia pilot program report

The following companies took part and have agreed to be named publicly:

Australia

New Zealand

Elsewhere

Click here to learn more about our pilot programs

Click here to register for a pilot program information session

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 10/3/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 10/3/22

Progress towards a four-day week in North America, as over 60 companies make the shift

Today marks the latest step towards a four-day week for North America, as over 60 companies across the continent are now getting an extra day off per week, with no loss of pay. A group of almost 30 pioneering organisations will embark on the latest phase of a six-month pilot program, coordinated by non-profit organisation, 4 Day Week Global.

4 Day Week Global press release

Monday 3rd October, 2022

Progress towards a four-day week in North America, as over 60 companies make the shift

Today marks the latest step towards a four-day week for North America, as over 60 companies across the continent are now getting an extra day off per week, with no loss of pay. A group of almost 30 pioneering organisations will today follow others who started their journey earlier this year, by embarking on the latest phase of a six-month pilot program, coordinated by non-profit organisation, 4 Day Week Global.

These companies, who cumulatively employ over 4,000 people, join hundreds of other pilot participants around the world in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and most notably, the UK, where mid-point results of the largest trial of its kind recently revealed very positive outcomes.

Speaking ahead of today’s launch, 4 Day Week Global CEO, Joe O’Connor expressed excitement over the enthusiasm shown by companies thus far.

“We’re delighted to have such an assortment of innovative and bold business leaders on board this round of our pilot. Early evidence has already proven the four-day week’s potential for greatness, from improved business productivity to greater worker wellbeing, so we look forward to these organisations experiencing those benefits first-hand.

“As more and more companies join four-day week trials, our capacity to gather and analyse data grows. This will ultimately lead us to a point where we can irrefutably demonstrate how the four-day week can be successfully implemented across every sector of the economy. So, not only are these participants building a better future for themselves, but they are paving the way towards a widespread application of reduced-hour, output-focused working and for that, should be celebrated,” he said.

Some organisations taking part in this phase of the pilot include:

Search Engine Journal (Media & Publishing)

Peck Peck + Associates (Architecture & Interior Design)

Aeolidia (Graphic & Web Design

Immersed Games (Educational Technology)

SIY Global (Corporate Training)
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (Non-profit)
Friendly Design Co (Graphic Design)

Canada

Pb+j (Design & Marketing)

Sensei Labs Inc. (Technology/Enterprise SaaS)

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (Non-profit)

Atelier L'Abri (Architecture)

Produce8 (Technology/SaaS)

PRAXIS (Creative Services)

Jenise Uehara is CEO at Search Engine Journal, a media and publishing company participating in the trial. She said, “Search Engine Journal’s transition to a four-day week represents the best of our company’s shared belief system. We believe leadership has both a commercial imperative to mind the bottom line, and a moral imperative to support work-life balance for all.

“We also believe in the studies that show empowered workers are more productive. While preparing for a four-day week, our staff-led committee has already discovered productivity opportunities. We know we will find more. We would not have been motivated to find and fix these inefficiencies had we not embraced a four-day week program with goals of 100% productivity, 100% of the pay, in 80% of the time.

“Sometimes the best agent of change is disruption. Search Engine Journal will now have a precious gift we can give back to staff and their families: more time.”

Jon Leland is Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter, a public benefit corporation who recently completed their six-month four-day week trial. He said, “We decided to pilot the four-day week after looking at the mounting evidence that it could provide substantial benefits to our business, employees, and the community. After six months, we've found the research to be true.

“Our productivity has been up, with employees more engaged, more focused and more committed to remaining at Kickstarter. They're also getting time back to rest, spend time with their families, pursue creative projects and volunteer. We hope other employers look at our experience and decide to adopt a four-day week for the benefit of their mission, their employees, and the public.”

Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College, and lead researcher on the pilot. She said, “We're very pleased to be starting a new pilot with a great group of US and Canadian companies.

“The pilots we've run so far have had outstanding results. Companies are reporting that the four-day week has been a great success and that they'll be continuing. Employees are benefitting too - experiencing significantly less burnout, better work-family balance and mental health. And they're suffering from much less sleep deprivation. Companies and their employees are benefitting from reducing the work week.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:
media@4dayweek.com

About 4 Day Week Global:

4 Day Week Global was founded in New Zealand by 4 Day Week architect Andrew Barnes alongside entrepreneur and philanthropist Charlotte Lockhart in 2019, following the world-renowned success of their pioneering trial of the four-day working week in Perpetual Guardian in 2018.

Since then, 4 Day Week Global has supported hundreds of companies from a variety of industries all over the world to run four-day week trials, or make the permanent transition to reduced hour, productivity focused working.

Their approach is based on the 100-80-100™ principle designed by Lockhart alongside the Perpetual Guardian trial in 2018 - 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to delivering 100% of the output.

This model is proven to deliver both improved company productivity, efficiency and performance, alongside greater employee wellbeing, engagement, and work-life balance. Research from leading international academics suggest the four-day working week can be a truly triple-dividend policy: better for the economy, better for society, and better for the environment.

Initially established as a networking community for like-minded people and organizations interested in exploring the shorter working week and as a vehicle for global advocacy, 4 Day Week Global has grown to become the global market leader in supporting businesses and governments who wish to experiment with or implement work time reduction.

The development of 4 Day Week Global's pilot programme in 2021 has enabled the organization to respond to the exponential growth in demand for and interest in the four-day working week, and to shift to a model which can uniquely support employers and employees to run trials at scale.

The organization has now joined forces with some of the world's most prominent and preeminent experts in this field, including bringing on board dynamic leader and campaigner Joe O'Connor as chief executive officer, and author, speaker and consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang as global programs and development manager.

Its ambition is to make a four-day working week the new default and reduced working time the new standard. Its intention is to lead and grow the global movement for a shorter working week to make this a reality all over the world.

Buy Andrew Barnes’ book, ‘The 4 Day Week; How the flexible work revolution can increase productivity, profitability and well-being, and create a sustainable future’, here.

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 10/2/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 10/2/22

Over 30 companies move to a four-day week across Australia and New Zealand

A new four-day week pilot is underway, as over 30 companies and almost 1000 workers across Australia and New Zealand get an extra day per week back with no loss of pay. The six-month coordinated trial, run by non-profit 4 Day Week Global, operates off the 100-80-100™ model where workers get 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintaining at least 100% of the output.

Press release

Monday, 1st August 2022

Participating companies operate across a diverse range of industries, offering services in the manufacturing, fashion, healthcare, real estate, finance, technology, education and PR sectors, to name but a few. They include:

Australia

● ABA Advice Beyond Accounting

● Ink+Iris

● Itch Group of Companies

● Momentum Mental Health

● More Than Mortgages

● Our Community

● Rentwest Solutions

● The Walk Agency

● Your Creative

New Zealand

● Cook Costello Limited

● Haemata Limited

● Kowtow Clothing

● BVT Engineering Professional Services

The trial will be followed by a team of researchers at Boston College, the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney, who work with each company to define and establish their research baseline and relevant productivity metrics for the trial. The economic, social and ecological impact of the four-day week is also monitored throughout, assessing productivity, employee wellbeing, and gender and environmental impacts.

This pilot is part of a series of international programs, with others already underway in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland, with many more planned in the coming months.

Suzanne Brown, Director at Perth-based real estate company, Rentwest said: “My two passions in running a business are the employee experience and the client experience. I’ve learnt that if you get the employee experience right, then the customer will ultimately benefit also.

“By giving our team one more day off per week, we believe they will turn up on the four workdays more engaged, more energised and more productive. We have already seen team engagement enhance significantly, simply due to the excitement of planning this trial.

“Right now, Rentwest happens to be an all-female office. 60% of the team are working mums – we’re raising 34 children and many fur babies between us. Other team members are juggling caring responsibilities for aging parents and trying to fit in other volunteering commitments.

“I’d like to see this trial be a success and adopted permanently, as it will allow us all to take the time to care for our loved ones while also giving a little extra time for ourselves in the working week.”

Maygan Holland, Director at New Zealand-based consultant engineering firm, Cook Costello Limited said: “At Cook Costello we are re-engineering our work week. We believe collaboration of teams and creating time efficiencies using all available resources are crucial components in ensuring a sustainable working environment.

“The four-day week has the potential to be an important tool for Cook Costello in supporting our people to have time for what is important in their lives. We are excited to be part of this trial and to see what difference it makes to the way we work.

“Unfortunately, the pre-Covid challenges remain, where the global shortage of suitable people-resources puts teams and projects under pressure. However, the lockdowns did compel us to focus on just what was productive work and what were our team’s priorities.

“At Cook Costello, we have been bringing innovation to the technical elements of consultant engineering for more than 45 years. Now we’re experimenting with operational innovation as well.”

Andrew Barnes, Entrepreneur and 4 Day Week Global Founder said: “When I had the idea to trial a four-day week at my company in New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian, I never could have imagined what was going to come of it. Now, four years later, after helping hundreds of companies and thousands of workers make the transition, all while hitting countless global headlines, we’re finally launching a pilot program back where it all began.

“We’ve already proven that success is possible and I’m very much looking forward to strengthening the evidence in favour of a four-day week with the positive outcomes this pilot is sure to produce.”

Charlotte Lockhart, 4 Day Week Global Founder and Managing Director said: “From business productivity gains to strengthened recruitment and retention; From reduced stress levels to improved work/life balance; From environmental sustainability to gender equality; The benefits of a four-day week are innumerous.

“We’re certain that this new way of working will soon become the new normal and once that happens, these pioneering companies participating in our pilot will be remembered and thanked for paving the way towards a better life.”

Professor John Quiggin, School of Economics, University of Queensland said: “Although there have already been preliminary trials with promising results, we don’t have enough evidence to say what works, what doesn’t and how workers and businesses will deal with a four-day week. This pilot is part of a series of experiments in different countries assessed on a consistent basis by leading academic researchers.

“In analysing the results, I will be particularly interested in two questions. First, how do responses differ in relation to gender and family responsibilities? And second, will the working arrangements gravitate towards a 4/3 structure, with one day (Monday or Friday) off, a core 3-day Tuesday-Thursday week, with reduced staffing on Mondays and Fridays, or remain similar to the current 5/2 structure, with flexible days off spread across the week?”

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 9/26/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 9/26/22

UK MP tables 32 hour week bill

While the introduction of a 32-hour work week is a worthy aspiration, it is critical to address this in parallel with an equal conversation about maintaining, if not improving, British productivity.

Press release

Tuesday, 27th September 2022

4 Day Week Global responds to Labour bill which calls for a 32-hour work week

While the introduction of a 32-hour work week is a worthy aspiration, it is critical to address this in parallel with an equal conversation about maintaining, if not improving, British productivity.

This is according to 4 Day Week Global, who has responded to a bill tabled in the UK parliament by Labour MP Peter Dowd, which calls for the introduction of a 32-hour work week across the UK economy, bringing workers in line with other parts of Europe.

Andrew Barnes, co-founder of 4 Day Week Global, says, “Our philosophy and pilot programmes focus on how businesses can work in partnership with their workforce to ensure the balance between reducing work time and maintaining productivity.

“To reduce work time sustainably, we believe in a collective partnership approach between workers, business leaders and key stakeholders. This is of paramount importance in order to ensure it is sustainable for businesses and works for the British economy in the long term.

“We are working with several regional and national Governments in Europe and globally to introduce pilot programmes and research projects which assess the economic, social and environmental impacts of reducing work time, and the feasibility of introducing shorter hours across different sectors and industries. We encourage lawmakers around the globe to commit to supporting trials in both the public and private sector, which will help to inform sustainable future of work initiatives and the shape of legislation.”

Charlotte Lockhart, managing director of 4 Day Week Global added, “For us, this is about the desire to maintain pay at the same levels alongside moving to a shorter working week, without compromising on business performance or organisational priorities. Our 100-80-100™ principle was developed to reflect 100% pay for 80% time, while maintaining 100% of the output.”

4 Day Week Global believes it is not simply the case that reducing work hours automatically leads to productivity increases. Businesses, along with their employees, should take ownership of their productivity, especially in the current challenging economic climate.

The recent release of mid-point results for their United Kingdom pilot programme, where over 70 companies are currently trialling a four-day week or equivalent shorter work week, shows an encouraging trend for business productivity being maintained and worker wellbeing improving.

ends

For more information:

4 Day Week Global

Global campaigns and activation officer

media@4dayweek.com

About 4 Day Week Global:

Buy Andrew Barnes’ book, ‘The 4 Day Week; How the flexible work revolution can increase productivity, profitability and well-being, and create a sustainable future’, here.

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 9/20/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 9/20/22

UK Companies in 4 Day week Pilot Reach Landmark Halfway Point

At the halfway point of a groundbreaking six-month trial of a four-day week pilot programme in the United Kingdom, data points and qualitative feedback are flowing in. The indicative research being gathered by 4 Day Week Global reveals a general tenor of positive experiences alongside valuable lessons.

Companies Report Their Successes and Lessons to Date

More than 70 organisations signed up for the six-month trial, which kicked off at the beginning of June and is being run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University and Boston College. More than 3,300 employees are getting a paid day off weekly through the course of the trial.

4 Day Week Global CEO Joe O’Connor says, “The organisations in the United Kingdom pilot are contributing real-time data and knowledge that are worth their weight in gold. Essentially, they are laying the foundation for the future of work by putting a four-day week into practice, across every size of business and nearly every sector, and telling us exactly what they are finding as they go.

“We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are some understandable hurdles – especially among those which have comparatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems, or cultures which date back well into the last century.

“While for most organisations the pilot prompts many pleasing discoveries and outcomes – a lot of businesses have more flexibility and nimbleness among their people and teams that leaders often know at the outset – there is friction for others, and this can be based on a variety of factors, many of which can be addressed or substantially improved in the pilot itself. 4 Day Week Global and our partners are supporting these businesses to ease their transition to a flexible work model, and using the findings to inform the process for many more businesses to trial, adapt, and reap the benefits of emphasising productivity over time – thereby transforming the world of work for all of us.”

Some of the organisations undertaking the UK pilot include: 5 Squirrels (Brighton and Hove), Adzooma (Nottingham), AKA Case Management (Nottingham, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester), Allcap Limited (Gloucester), Amplitude (Northampton), Bedrock Learning (Norwich), Bookishly (Northamptonshire), Boom Studios (Northern Ireland), Charity Bank (Kent), Comcen (Swansea), Debt Justice (London), Eurowagens (Letchworth), Everledger (London, Birmingham, Manchester), Evolution Money Limited (Manchester), Future Talent Learning (London) Girling Jones (Exeter), Happy (London) Helping Hands (Warwickshire), Hutch (London), IE Brand (Birmingham), Literal Humans (London), Loud Mouth Media (Belfast, Glasgow), Merthyr Valley Homes Limited (Merthyr Tydfil), MOX (London), NeatClean (Stratford-Upon-Avon), Outcomes Based Healthcare (London), Outcomes First Group (Bolton), Platten’s Fish and Chips (North Norfolk), Pressure Drop Brewing (London), Rivelin Robotics (Sheffield), Royal Society of Biology (London), salamandra.uk, Scotland's International Development Alliance (Edinburgh), Secure Digital Exchange Ltd (London), Sensat (London), Sounds Like These (London), Stellar Asset Management (London), Stemettes (London), The Story Mob (London), Timberlake Consultants Ltd / TLKE Ltd (London), Trio Media (Leeds and London), Tyler Grange (Rendcomb, Cirencester), Unity (London), Waterwise (Remote work), We Are Purposeful (London), Yo Telecom (Southampton)

A plurality of views and diversity of approaches to the pilot is evident among respondents to a brief internal check-in survey of the participating companies, undertaken around the pilot’s halfway point. A series of questions were posed with a multi-choice answer on a scale of 1 to 5. Of those that responded (41 out ocompanies):

88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working ‘well’ for their business at this stage in the trial;
46% of respondents say their business productivity has ‘maintained around the same level’, while 34% report that it has ‘improved slightly’, and 15% say it has ‘improved significantly;
On how smooth the transition to a four-day week has been (with 5 being ‘extremely smooth’ and ‘1’ being ‘extremely challenging’), 29% of respondents selected ‘5’, 49% selected ‘4’ and 20% selected ‘3’;
86% of respondents stated that at this juncture in the trial, they would be ‘extremely likely’ and or ‘likely’ to consider retaining the four-day week policy after the trial period.

Claire Daniels, CEO at Trio Media, says, "The four-day week trial so far has been extremely successful for us. Productivity has remained high, with an increase in wellness for the team, along with our business performing 44% better financially."

Sharon Platts, Chief People Officer for Outcomes First Group, says, “The four-day week [pilot] has been transformational for us so far. We've been delighted to see productivity and output increase and have also been able to make it work in our education and care services, which we thought would be far more challenging. While it's still early days, our confidence in continuing beyond the trial is growing and the impact on colleague wellbeing has been palpable."

An anonymous respondent stated that, “Radically rethinking the real value of everything you do as a business is never going to be seamless. To just try and cram the same work into shorter hours completely misunderstands the problem we are seeking to fix. The four-day week pilot has already shown us that there are things we could have implemented years ago which would have improved our productivity and offered increased value for the organisations we work with.”

And likewise, Nicci Russell, the Managing Director of Waterwise, says the pilot initially involved a learning curve. 'We're proud to be involved in the trial and it's going well for us. It wasn't a walk in the park at the start, but no major change ever is, and we were well briefed and prepared by the 4 Day Week Global team. 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. We managed to incorporate a big media blitz on water efficiency - water efficiency is our bread and butter - over the summer, which added to workload, but we still managed to stick to the four-day week and the standard working hours, and the team are pretty happy. We certainly all love the extra day out of the office and do come back refreshed. It's been great for our wellbeing and we're definitely more productive already.'

Globally, small companies to large corporates in diverse sectors have boldly embraced the productivity-focused, reduced-hour model of work with the support of 4 Day Week Global, as pilot programmes also roll out in North America, Ireland, and Australia and New Zealand in 2022.

From a local chippy to large corporates, companies in the UK pilot range from small enterprises to large corporates and span most sectors: education, workplace consultancy, leadership, personal development, and IT software training; district-based business improvement; professional development and legal training; automotive supply services; online retail; sustainable homecare; skincare; telco; animation studios; building and construction recruitment services; food and beverage and hospitality; digital marketing; and comprehensive case management services for people recovering from traumatic injury.

Many of these initial pilot entrants sprang from a series of well-subscribed information sessions in early 2022, which were led by the not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global and attended by leaders from hundreds of UK organisations.

4 Day Week Global is a multinational coalition of businesspeople, academics, researchers and authors collaborating to make the productivity-focused flexible work model a reality. The coalition is driving the biggest change in work since the shift to a five-day week a century ago.

Founders, employers and employees can find out more about the 4 Day Week and the pilot program at www.4dayweek.com

ends

For more information:

4 Day Week Global

Global campaigns and activation officer

media@4dayweek.com

About 4 Day Week Global:

Buy Andrew Barnes’ book, ‘The 4 Day Week; How the flexible work revolution can increase productivity, profitability and well-being, and create a sustainable future’, here.

About Autonomy and The 4 Day Week UK Campaign

Autonomy is a leading independent think tank focused on the future of work: https://autonomy.work/
The 4 Day Week Campaign is the UK's national campaigning organisation for a four-day, 32 hour working week with no reduction in pay: https://www.4dayweek.co.uk/

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 7/24/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 7/24/22

60 North American companies switch to a four-day week

Momentum for a four-day week in the US is building, with another 20 North American companies now signed up to a six-month pilot program where workers get an extra day off per week with no reduction in pay. This is based on the 100-80-100™ model, meaning workers get 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintaining at least 100% of the output.

These pioneering organizations are joining 40 others who began their journey with reduced-hour, productivity-focused working earlier this year in the first large-scale pilot of its kind run by non-profit, 4 Day Week Global. This brings the total number of US and Canadian companies to 60, with over 4,000 employees cumulatively participating in the trials.

Companies preparing for this phase of the trial, which launches in October, operate across a diverse range of industries. They offer services in the retail, construction, tech, marketing, design, finance and not-for-profit sectors, to name but a few. They include:

Graphic design agency, Friendly Design Co
Technology company, Sensei Labs Inc
Web and graphic design organization, Aeolidia
Architecture and interior design firm, Peck Peck and Associates

These 20 organizations have chosen to embrace the benefits of a four-day week after attending a series of online information sessions hosted by 4 Day Week Global, with many others expected to make the move this year.

Participants will have access to a package of support offered through the pilot program, including workshops delivered by international four-day week experts and pioneers, mentoring by four-day week business leaders, networking with other pilot companies and access to world-class academic research.

4 Day Week Global CEO, Joe O’Connor said: “More than a century after we invented the five-day week, the pandemic has paved the way for us to fundamentally rethink how we live and work. It's long past time for us to challenge the work practices and norms that were designed for the second industrial era, and recognize that we have the productive capacity and technological tools at our disposal for the future of work to be shorter and smarter.

“Business leaders from the first round of trials are already witnessing the positive impact on their organizations, and I’m sure this second wave of pioneers will reap those same rewards and enjoy the competitive advantage the four-day week brings.”

One company making the move is Friendly Design Co, a strategic design studio based in Washington, D.C. and Omaha, NE that collaborates with organizations who repair our world and strengthen our communities.

Founding Partner, Geoff Silverstein said: “We’re excited to join this next phase of the North American pilot and use 4 Day Week Global’s expertise to execute a smooth and successful four-day week trial here at Friendly Design Co.

“Our organization believes in collaborating to foster positive change in the world, and giving our team back one day of the week is a great way to do that. This will not only provide team members with time to fuel their own passions, but also yield the work/life balance necessary to achieve inspired outcomes for our clients and our communities.

“The four-day week is an investment in our organization and our people, as well as an investment in our communities and society.”

End-to-end field services management software company, simPRO can already attest to the benefits of a four-day week, as they near the end of their six-month trial which began earlier this year.

CEO, Sean Diljore said: “After talking to our team about what they wanted coming out of the changes wrought by the pandemic, a better work/life balance was at the top of the list.

“We consulted with the great team at 4 Day Week Global and joined their pilot program. As you can imagine, since we have a global workforce, we needed consultation on how to implement the four-day week on a global scale and not hamper collaboration or customer service.

“The program has been a massive success for our employees, our leaders, and our customers. Most importantly, it has shown our team that we are listening to their feedback.”

While final first-phase pilot results won’t be available until it concludes later this summer, researchers are already observing some very positive trends.

4 Day Week Global Research Lead at Boston College, Professor Juliet Schor said: “Results from halfway through our first trial are extremely encouraging. Employees report statistically significant changes such as less stress and burnout, better physical and mental health, more satisfaction with their lives and availability of time, and better and more sleep.

“We look forward to seeing if during the next three months these improvements become even more marked.”

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 6/6/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 6/6/22

UK 4 day week pilot begins with 70 companies and 3300 workers

70 UK companies and over 3300 workers will begin working a four-day week with no loss of pay today (Monday) in the biggest ever four-day week pilot to take place anywhere in the world so far.

70 UK companies and over 3300 workers will begin working a 4 day week with no loss of pay today in the biggest ever 4 day week pilot to take place anywhere in the world so far.

Participating organisations are trialling a 4 day week with no loss of pay for employees, based on the principle of the 100:80:100™ model - 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.

The pilot is running for 6 months and is being organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University and Boston College.

From a local chippy to large corporates, companies in the UK pilot provide products and services ranging from education to workplace consultancy; banking; care; financial services; IT software training; professional development and legal training; housing; automotive supply services; online retail; sustainable homecare; skincare; telco; animation studios; building and construction recruitment services; food and beverage and hospitality; digital marketing; and comprehensive case management services for people recovering from traumatic injury.

Researchers will work with each participating organisation to measure the impact on productivity in the business and the wellbeing of its workers, as well as the impact on the environment and gender equality.

Government backed 4 day week trials are also due to begin later this year in Spain and Scotland.

Joe O Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said:

“The UK is at the crest of a wave of global momentum behind the 4 day week.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognising that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.

“The impact of the 'great resignation' is now proving that workers from a diverse range of industries can produce better outcomes while working shorter and smarter.”

Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, and lead researcher on the pilot, said:

“I'm excited to be working on the research side for this historic trial.

“We'll be analyzing how employees respond to having an extra day off, in terms of stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use, travel and many other aspects of life.

“The 4 day week is generally considered to be a triple dividend policy - helping employees, companies, and the climate. Our research efforts will be digging into all of this.”

Ed Siegel, CEO of Charity Bank, who are participating in the pilot, said:

“We have long been a champion of flexible working, but the pandemic really moved the goalposts in this regard. For Charity Bank the move to a 4 day week seems a natural next step.

“The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business. We firmly believe that a 4 day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.

“We are proud to be one of the first banks in the UK to embrace the 4 day week and as one of our Board members put it, we believe ‘this trial will put Charity Bank on the right side of history.’”

Some of the businesses taking part are as follows:

CASE STUDY: Platten’s Fish and Chips

Staff at Plattens Fish and Chips in Wells-Next-The-Sea, North Norfolk are excited about taking part in the pilot.

General Manager Kirsty Wainwright, 34, is already working a 4 day week and is confident the pilot roll out across the business for all staff is going to be a success. Instead of a three day weekend, staff are going to be rotating their days with two days on followed by two days off.

Kirsty has been working in the hospitality industry for 17 years and is a mother of two children. She said: “The option of working a 4 day week was the main reason for choosing to work here.

“The hospitality industry has really unsociable working hours and it needs to change. It's not surprising the industry has been struggling with recruitment given the excessively long working hours.

“On a five day week I didn't get to see my kids enough. Spending more time with my kids is the best thing about a 4 day week. It's amazing.

“Having that extra rest and not feeling exhausted means I can be more productive at work too.”

Wyatt Watts, 25, Team Leader at Platten's, enjoys exercising at the gym and playing football but feels a five day working week leaves him very tired and without enough time to exercise. He says working in the hospitality industry can be “very strenuous.”

“When I first heard we were going to be working less hours with the same pay I thought to myself what's the catch, it sounds too good to be true,” said Wyatt.

“I'm hoping it's going to allow me to have more time for personal development, socialising with friends and going to the gym. Usually I'm so exhausted from work I don't have the energy so hopefully having that extra time to rest will boost my energy levels.

“The impact of making the decision to take part in the pilot has already had an extremely positive impact on the team. Morale has improved and we're hoping that our productivity at work is going to be higher, meaning that stuff can get done quicker.

“Having a 4 day week has left me feeling a lot more positive about staying and working in the industry.”

Luke Platten, the Director of Platten's Fish and Chips, said:

“Making memories is our purpose and our passion, so we strive to exceed the expectations of our team, customers and community. Our team believes the 4 day week perfectly aligns with our values to provide the win-win position for everyone involved.”

Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 5/23/22 Charlotte Lockhart - Founder 5/23/22

20 companies to switch to a 4 day work week across Australia and New Zealand

Ahead of this week’s federal election, described by one major news outlet as the “don’t-talk-about-climate-change election”, 20 companies in Australia and New Zealand are taking matters into their own hands by embarking on a climate-friendly four-day week.

Ahead of this week’s Australian federal election, described by one major news outlet as the “don’t-talk-about-climate-change election”, 20 companies in Australia and New Zealand are taking matters into their own hands by embarking on a climate-friendly 4 day week. The organisations will kick off a six-month reduced working time pilot in August, with the Australasian trial, run by 4 Day Week Global, giving employees an extra day off per week with no loss of pay. This is based on the 100:80:100™ model where workers get 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.

A key benefit of the 4 day week is that it is better for the environment, as 4 Day Week Global research partner Professor Juliet Schor explained in her recent TED talk. The principle of giving all staff a weekly day off – whether the same day for everyone or staggered across the workforce – is that it cuts overall company commuting by 20 percent, and correspondingly reduces energy expenditure in the workplace, resulting in a lowered carbon footprint for any business operating on a 4 day week.

The pioneering organisations preparing for the trial provide services across a diverse range of industries, from finance to fashion. They include:

· Technology firm Our Community;

· Marketing and communications agency The Walk;

· Education and business consultancy Haemata Limited;

· Finance company More Than Mortgages;

· Health and well-being organisation Momentum Mental Health;

· And others in the technology, healthcare, construction and retail sectors.

These organisations moved to embrace reduced-hour, productivity-focused working after attending a series of online information sessions hosted by 4 Day Week Global. Many others are expected to make the move this year. Participating companies will have access to a package of support offered through the pilot programme, including workshops delivered by international 4 day week experts and pioneers, mentoring by 4 day week business leaders, networking with other pilot companies and access to world-class academic research. The pilot will be followed by researchers at Auckland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Sydney and Boston College.

The Australian social entrepreneurship body Our Community is among the companies embarking on the trial in August. It creates and disseminates practical, affordable training, leadership and technological solutions that allow not-for-profit and grant-making organisations to get on with the crucial work of building stronger communities.

Our Community CEO Denis Moriarty says, “Our Community has been a traditional office-based company and with what we have learned in the past two years, we are now in a position to implement changes, trust employees to maintain productivity and make sure work-life balance is supported. Most of all, we are responding to the shift we are seeing with employees having more of a voice about what they want work to look like in the future.

“Companies cannot grow, achieve social impact or reach amazing valuations and new heights without their staff. It's time we as leaders find ways to return some of this investment to them, not just in wages, bonuses and equity, but with time, so they can use the rest of those things to build a life they love.”

Andrew Barnes, the entrepreneur who conceived the 4 day week and went on to establish 4 Day Week Global, says the climate crisis cannot be solved without a revolutionary, global change in how people work. “We recognised well before the pandemic that the five-day week is no longer fit for purpose, and as we trialed and studied the 4 day week it became clear that this is a necessary part of the solution to restore climate balance, among many other documented benefits. We simply cannot go on as we have been, and we welcome the forward-thinking companies and business leaders in Australasia who are driving this change and showing the path forward.”

Charlotte Lockhart, managing director and founder of 4 Day Week Global, highlighted the significance of the milestone: “This is a crucial first step in Australia and New Zealand to begin a South Pacific conversation on the future of work and the 4 day week, following the advances made by companies in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and beyond. It’s very exciting to see these organisations demonstrating leadership by supporting their employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance while maintaining and even raising productivity.”

Professor John Quiggin of the School of Economics at the University of Queensland is one of the academics who will be tracking the success of the Australasian pilot. He welcomed the enthusiasm shown for it to date: “The 4 day working week is an idea whose time has come. Experimentation will be needed to see how best to implement a shorter working week, and the recruitment of the first 20 companies to the 4 Day Week Global Australasian pilot study is an important step towards this goal, providing valuable evidence.”

Professor John Buchanan of the University of Sydney Business School says, “In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Australia pioneered reductions in the length of the working day and working week. It is really exciting that we could be re-discovering a spirit of genuine innovation and social progress in this part of the world. Researchers at the Universities of Sydney and Queensland and Auckland University of Technology are partnering with the trial of the 4 day week in Australasia to ensure we learn from the best of what the pathfinders discover and avoid repeating any mistakes they make.”

Employers or employees interested in participating in the Australasian pilot can find more information here.