The case for a four-day work week

One in seven workers claim they did not feel as burnt out as before at work after their company switched to a four-day week, a new study shows.

More than 60 companies took part in the pilot programme designed to explore the potential benefits of a four-day work week for employees. Each participating organisation committed to reducing the work hours of all their staff by 20%, with no change to the workers’ wages. The entire programme ran for six months beginning in June 2022.

Now that the trial is complete, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Boston College in the US have examined the workers’ progress. The results of the programme hold promise for workforces everywhere.

About 71% of participants reported having lower levels of burnout, while 39% saying they were less stressed compared to when they started in the trial.

As regards the impact of the programme, the companies saw a 65% reduction in sick days and a 57% reduction in the number of workers leaving their company, compared to figures from the same period last year.

Companies also experienced a slight 1.4% increase in revenue on average while they were participating in the six-month trial.

Impact on workers’ mental health

One of the biggest benefits of the four-day work week was an improvement in the workers’ work-life balance. The extra day of free time helped lower anxiety and fatigue levels among the participants. They also reported having better physical and mental health.

With more free time on their hands, the workers were also able to balance their responsibilities at work and at home. About 60% said they were able to combine their paid work with their care responsibilities. Meanwhile, 62% of respondents said they were able to combine work with their social life.

Brendan Burchell, a social sciences professor and leader of the University of Cambridge research team, explained how some doubted that they would be able to find any improvement in workers’ productivity.

“Before the trial, many questioned whether we would see an increase in productivity to offset the reduction in working time – but this is exactly what we found,” Burchell said.

“Many employees were very keen to find efficiency gains themselves. Long meetings with too many people were cut short or ditched completely. Workers were much less inclined to kill time, and actively sought out technologies that improved their productivity.”

Other four-day week trials

Launched by non-profit organisation 4 Day Week Global, this pilot programme involved companies from a wide range of industries. These included online retailers, financial service providers, animation studios and a local fish-and-chip shop. It also featured participants from the consultancy, housing, IT, skincare, recruitment, hospitality, marketing, and healthcare industries.

Dr David Frayne, a research associate at the University of Cambridge, said the method for the trial allowed them to go beyond surveys and actually see how companies were making the four-day week work on the ground.

“We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into realistic policy, with multiple benefits,” Frayne said.

Meanwhile, 4 Day Week Campaign Director Joe Ryle called the results of the trial a “major breakthrough moment”.

“Across a wide variety of different sectors of the economy, these incredible results show that the four-day week actually works,” Ryle said.

Despite the completion of the trial, 92% of participating companies have already expressed their intention to continue implementing the four-day work week for their employees. As many as 18 of these organisations confirmed that they have made the change permanent.