Four-day workweek to stay, say UK firms in world's largest trial

British companies trialling a four-day working week have mostly decided to stick with it after a six-month pilot in what campaigners for better work-life balance view as a breakthrough.

Employees at 61 companies across Britain worked an average of 34 hours across four days between June and December 2022, while earning their existing salary.

Of those, 56 companies, or 92 per cent, opted to continue like that, 18 of them permanently.

The trial is the largest in the world to date, according to Autonomy, a British-based research organisation which published the report alongside a group of academics and with backing from New Zealand-based group 4 Day Week Global.

Most companies involved, across different sectors and sizes with 2,900 staff overall, said productivity was maintained.

Staff said their well-being and work-life balance had improved while data showed employees were much less likely to quit their jobs as a result of the four-day week policy.

“This is a major breakthrough moment for the movement towards a four-day working week,” Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“These incredible results show that the four-day week with no loss of pay really works.”

The founder of a craft brewery involved in the trial said the trial encouraged greater productivity in shorter time. “We want to be more busy, less stressed,” the report quoted the founder as saying.