According to the world’s largest four-day week experiment in the UK, such a schedule makes employees happier and businesses richer. This is reported by the online magazine Inc. with reference to Study Finds.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge conducted extensive interviews with staff and managers before, during and after the trial. A 20% reduction in working hours per week resulted in employees taking 65% fewer sick days and 57% fewer employees leaving. On average, people who work four days a week are 71% less likely to burn out and 39% less stressed compared to how they felt at the start of the six-month study.
The company’s revenue is also increasing, though on average only by 1.4%. Of the 61 UK companies that took part in the pilot program, 92% said they planned to keep the four-day work week. And 18 companies have announced a change to the schedule forever.
Most of the employees spent the free time on weekdays on “life administrative” matters, such as shopping and cleaning. This allowed them to have a good rest on Saturday and Sunday. Some were able to devote more time to sports, cooking and volunteering.
Others used their free time to get higher professional qualifications. Parents saved on babysitting and kindergarten thanks to a day off in the middle of the week.
“Before the test, many wondered if we would see an increase in productivity to compensate for the reduction in working hours, but this is exactly what we found,” said sociologist Professor Brendan Burchell, who led the study. The University of Cambridge has partnered with Boston College and the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global.
According to Burchell, long meetings with too many people in companies have been cut back or canceled entirely. Employees themselves were actively looking for technological ways to be more productive.
The experiment involved 2.9 thousand employees of online stores, financial service providers, animation studios, and even employees of local fish-and-chip stores. Consulting, housing, IT, cosmetics, recruiting, marketing, hospitality and healthcare companies also volunteered.
Respondents said the extra time off made it easier for them to balance work with family and social commitments: 60% of those surveyed felt they found it easier to balance paid work with household chores, and 62% felt that their social life had become more balanced.
“When you realize that this day has allowed you to relax and unwind and be ready to give it your all in the next four days, you begin to realize that going back to work on Friday would be really wrong — stupid, actually,” said the CEO of the consulting firm. participating in the experiment.
To maintain performance targets, employers are scheduling meetings with a clearer agenda. Companies have introduced non-stop “focused work periods” and changed email rules to shorten long message chains.
The production processes were re-analyzed. Teams have created checklists for tasks for the day that allow them to effectively delegate when needed and quickly get to work the next day.
The authors of the study found only two unsuccessful cases associated with a short work week: in a large company, which increased the workload, and in a creative company, which, in order to save time, had to abandon the unstructured work chat, which often generated new ideas for projects.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
