Over 200 UK firms have agreed to adopt a permanent four-day week without pay cuts. The initiative covers more than 5,000 employees from marketing, charities, and technology companies. The update from the 4 Day Week Foundation, is part of a major step forward in efforts to redefine Britain’s traditional full-time work week.
According to advocates of the four-day working week, the five-day working week is a leftover of ancient days. As Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said, “The 9-5, five-day working week was invented 100 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose. We are long overdue an update.”
He added that a four-day week provides “50 percent more free time,” so workers can “live happier, more fulfilling lives.” Ryle emphasized that a four-day week benefits both workers and employers since it delivers equal output in fewer hours while creating a better life for employees.
Growing Momentum Across Sectors
The four-day working week is picking up pace in different industries. Marketing, advertising, and press relations companies have set the trend, with 30 companies embracing the practice. Then, 29 organizations in charity, NGO, and social care, and 24 in technology, IT, and software, have also followed suit. Finally, 22 companies in consulting and business management have adopted the change.
In addition, there is a general welcome in London of this change, firms based here comprise 59 out of 200 companies in this experiment. The practice is interpreted as beneficial for attracting skilled laborers, retaining them, and enhancing productivity by reducing work hours while increasing output.
Battle Over Work Patterns
The movement to shorten the working week is in contrast to the ongoing battles over work arrangements, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. While some companies, such as those in the US including JPMorgan Chase and Amazon, enforce strict five-day in-office mandates, many UK workers have pushed back against the return to the traditional office model. Some employees at Starling Bank have even resigned after the company asked them to come into the office more frequently.
However, the UK politicians still support the policy, with Labour’s deputy prime minister Angela Rayner supporting the four-day work week. The party is still unwilling to back the policy, fearing it will hand ammunition to the Conservative opposition.
Four-Day Week Amongst Younger Workers
According to research from Spark Market Research, younger workers are big supporters of the four-day workweek. As such, 78% of 18-34-year-olds in the UK believe the 4-day week will become the norm in the next five years. Even more, 65% of this age group doesn’t want to return to full-time office work.
Lynsey Carolan, managing director at Spark, noted that this is the generation set to form the core of the workforce for the next 50 years and “are vocal about not wanting to return to traditional ways of working. This group also says that mental health and improving their overall well-being are their top priorities, so a four-day week is a really meaningful benefit and a key enabler of their overall quality of life.
Growing Trend with Benefits for All
The four-day working week has become a trend, and the change in work culture is slowly creeping into the United Kingdom. Considering the benefits of improved work-life balance, employee retention, and productivity, it seems like the four-day week may just be the new way of the world.
