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:
US
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.
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
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.
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
New Zealand
● 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?”
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
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.
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
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 for some organisations that are striving to change decades of ingrained work cultures and systems.
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
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.
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/
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.
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.”
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.”