4 day working in 100 UK companies: Companies implemented it without reducing salary, said – this will increase productivity.
100 companies in the United Kingdom have introduced permanent 4 day working hours for all employees without reducing pay. These 100 companies together have around 2,600 employees. Companies hope that this step will bring a big change in the country. Supporters of 4-day working said it would improve the productivity of firms and enable them to do the same work in fewer hours. Firms that have adopted this policy in the past have found it very useful in attracting and retaining employees.
Two big UK companies involved
Of the 100 companies, the two largest UK firms that have adopted 4 day working are Atom Bank and global marketing company Avin. Each of these has around 450 employees in the UK. Speaking to The Guardian, Adam Ross, chief executive of Avin, described it as one of the few transformative initiatives of Itisah.
Microsoft also started 4 day working in 2019
Earlier, in 2019, Microsoft also started giving work four days a week and three days off as an experiment in its Japan office. The company had said that this increased productivity and also reduced the leave taken by employees by 25%. Electricity use also decreased by 23% and 92% of employees said they enjoyed working four days a week. At the same time, some French companies also adopted this model. The New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian also experimented with working four days a week.
Pilot project started in UK 6 months ago
A trial of four day working was also started in Britain about 6 months ago. This was the world’s largest pilot project to change the way of working. About 70 companies were involved in this project. During the trial, even though the employees worked for 4 days, they were paid in full. The purpose of this trial was to make the employees more productive. The experiment was managed in partnership with scholars from Oxford and Cambridge Universities as well as expert think tank Autonomy from Boston College in the US. From software development companies to local shops got involved in this. Juliet Shore, chief researcher of this project and economist and sociologist at Boston College, described the trial as historic.
No point in sticking to the old ways
As Juliet said, the problem with the 5-day week is that the work can be expanded according to the time available. There is no point in sticking to this age-old time-based system. He said, you can be 100% productive 80% of the time in many workplaces, and companies around the world have shown this. However, the researcher also agreed that this idea does not suit a profession like health care.
Increase in productivity after 4-day week
Girling Jones, a small construction recruitment firm in Exeter, introduced the 4-day week in January. This firm was also involved in this pilot project. The company’s founder Simon Girling said that since the 4-day week, productivity has increased, which has also increased profits. He had said, ‘All our inputs – calls, meetings, interviews, are up…quite simply everyone is doing more work in less time.’
Employees quite happy with 4-day week
Employees are also happy with the 4-day week. Ellen Andreasson, an employee of the company, said that she used her off to rest. He had said, ‘I am definitely more motivated. It has also improved my sleep a lot. His colleague Josh Cockerill said that he was able to spend more time with his daughter. This is helping them save money on nursery fees.
