From next Monday, thousands of UK workers will pilot a four-day work week with no pay cuts.
The not-for-profit think tank 4 Day Week Global launched the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Boston College.
The four-day work week pilot will last six months. The government is monitoring 3,300 workers across 70 companies, from financial services to hospitality. The program provides the full payslip for 80% of the work week – maintaining the same productivity standards.
The first pilot happened in Iceland between 2015 and 2019. Two thousand five hundred public sector workers were tested in two large trials. As a result, employees kept the same performance improving their well-being.
After this long remote work experience, people are willing to find new work conditions to improve their work-life balance. After the UK, Spain and Scotland will test the four-day work week arrangement.
As CEO of 4 Day Week Global, Joe O’Connor said: “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.”
During these pilots, researchers will measure the impact of the four-day work week on productivity and wellbeing.
