Never have we been more invested in a social experiment. The four-day working week trial is at the halfway point and the latest data suggests it’s proving incredibly popular.
Is anyone surprised?
The majority (88%) of those taking part in the study say it is working well, while 86% of employers involved in the trial say they are likely to consider keeping the shorter week once the six-month experiment has come to its end.
The trial, overs by the not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global alongside the think tank Autonomy and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University, seeks to explore whether a four-day week is a viable “part of the future of work”.
More than 70 organisations are already taking part in the experiment – with more set to join – and workers receive the full pay they’d usually receive for five days of work.
The organisers say it’s not just about having an extra day off a week, “it’s about delivering productivity, meeting customer service standards, meeting personal and team business goals and objectives”.
So, no unnecessary Zoom calls and a long weekend, every weekend. Sounds dreamy, right?
But what will actually happen after the experiment ends? Could this be a mandate for shorter working weeks? And will the four-day week ever become the norm?
Sarah Austin, founder and director at the Lloyd’s Bank British Business Excellence Awards, says “almost certainly not”.
“The combination of industry time commitments varying so greatly across the board, as well as close to universal workforce shortages across the board, creates an ecosystem simply incapable of supporting the continued running of certain businesses with working hours under 37.5 hours a week,” she tells HuffPost UK.
“However, this does not mean employee wellbeing should be shelved – businesses that can’t, at this time, adapt to a four-day work week model, can still promote and initiate employee mental health holiday allowances, childcare flexibility and, where possible, hybridisation to not only support their employees, but to also allow them to remain competitive in the current job seeker-led market.”
Nichola Johnson-Marshall, co-founder of cultural transformation consultancy, Working Wonder, is also skeptical this will work for every workplace.
“It’s also great to see commitment and actual trials for a new format of working pattern around a four day (paid for five) working week,” she says, “but we believe that this should be approached as a starting point rather than the end goal and not introduced universally.”
Lockdown has shown us that there are better ways of working than “just how we have worked before”, she adds. So simply cutting working hours might not be the best solution to better work-life balance.
“Whilst a four day working week may initially sound very tempting, it’s important that a four day working week is explored as a series of options rather than simply replacing a five day regimented routine with its four day equivalent,” she says.
“For example, working different four days a week, working four days across five for shorter days as starters. Different people have different needs and being able to accommodate them as well as operating a profitable, productive and innovative business is important.”
Despite Johnson-Marshall’s hunch that we won’t see this model widely adopted, data from Totaljobs shared with HuffPost UK suggests that not only is the four-day working week a possibility – it’s already happening.
The site has seen a total of 11,581 more roles advertising four-day working weeks in the past six months compared to previous listings.
Jon Wilson, CEO of Totaljobs, tells us companies will need to consider the shift in order to attract the best candidates.
“Businesses continue to face a uniquely competitive recruitment landscape, with skills shortages and staff retention remaining top challenges,” he says.
“Jobseekers are expecting a greater degree of flexibility to work where they want. 15% of businesses have already reported receiving increased requests to work from anywhere, while 15% are getting questions about four-day working weeks. 26% of businesses have reported an increase in questions regarding flexible working at interview stage.
“In response, employers should consider offering workers greater flexibility to work in the ways that best suits their chosen lifestyles.”
For a four-day working week to become the norm, we also need to figure out if it’s viable in the public sector as well as in the private, or staff shortages in our most vital services will only get worse.
Thankfully, more organisations are joining in the latter stages of the trial to find out what this might look like.
South Cambridgeshire District Council is set to embark on a three-month experiment for its desk-based staff, with a view to expanding the model to bin collectors if it goes well.
For more than a year, the council has only been able to fill about eight out of every 10 (or fewer) of its vacancies. Between January and March 2022, only around half were filled.
“This is all about seeing whether the benefits on productivity, staff wellbeing and recruitment can be seen in local government as demonstrated in the private sector,” councillor Bridget Smith explains.
“We only filled around half our vacancies during the first few months of this year and using temporary agency staff instead is expensive. Additionally, we think that this will help us attract a more diverse workforce. If we can help reduce the financial burden of caring and childcare costs, I believe we will open ourselves up as an employer to more people and in turn help them deal with the rising cost of living.”
We’ll be waiting with bated breath to see those results.