A national pilot scheme exploring a four-day working week has concluded with a resounding 100 per cent success rate, prompting all participating companies to permanently adopt the shorter schedule.
The six-month trial, which began last November, involved 17 companies and nearly 1,000 workers, and was organised by the 4 Day Week Foundation.
All 17 firms have now committed to continuing the four-day week beyond the pilot phase.
A report on the initiative highlighted that organisations were able to maintain their service levels and key performance indicators throughout the trial period.
This demonstrated that productivity did not suffer despite the reduction in working days.
Crucially, the pilot also yielded substantial benefits for employee wellbeing. Almost two-thirds of workers registered a reduction in how often they experienced burnout, while two in five found an improvement in their mental health.
Furthermore, nearly half of the participants reported feeling more satisfied with their lives.
Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said: “With greater knowledge, expertise and experience of what it takes to successfully implement a four-day week, we’re really pleased to see such a high success rate.
“People are happier, businesses are thriving, and there’s no turning back.
“We’ve proved it again and again: a four-day week works and should now be implemented more widely across the economy.”
Alan Brunt, chief executive of Bron Afon Community Housing with 420 staff, who are extending their pilot further, said: “Almost as soon as we started talking about it, our teams got together to set about making it work which was brilliant.
“We’ve closely monitored our performance and customer satisfaction. We’re happy with the results so far and will continue to make sure we’re delivering for our customers.
“I expect that most organisations will be doing this in the next 10 years or so.”
