The world's biggest four-day work week trial has just begun
The UK begins its 4-day Weekly trial which will last six months.
Seventy companies and 3,300 employees are taking part in what is claimed to be the world's largest experience of a four-day workweek with no lost wages for workers.
The experiment will last for six months and is coordinated by the 4-week global campaign in partnership with the British think tank independence and researchers at the University of Cambridge, Oxford University and Boston College.
The pilot is based on the 100-80-100 model, in which employees receive 100% of pay for 80% of the normal working week, in exchange for the obligation to maintain at least 100% productivity.
Similar pilots are being coordinated by 4 World weekdays occurring in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The UK pilot has attracted participating companies from education, banking, healthcare, financial services, technology and media, construction, retail and more, according to 4 World weekday.
The UK is at the "peak of a wave of global momentum behind the four-day week,"says Joe O. Connor, CEO of 4 World week. He argues that the "great resignation"that began in early 2021 proved that better results can be achieved by working"shorter and smarter".
"As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are realizing that the new frontier of competition is the quality of life and that work focused on production per hour is the means to give them a competitive advantage,"O'connor said.
The pilot project comes as companies decide whether employees should return to the office, which some tech CEOs believe is over as a worksite, or whether they can work remotely, indefinitely.
Researchers in the pilot project in the UK will help participating companies measure productivity and worker well-being during the pilot project and provide a confidential report after its completion.
The charity bank, a small British bank owned by charities and trusts, is taking part in the pilot project. It claims to be the first bank in the UK to cut its working week from a standard 35 hours to 28 hours for the same pay and benefits.
"The 20th century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for a 21st Century Business," says Ed Siegel, chief executive of the charity bank.
"We firmly believe that a four-day week without a change in salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have a positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission."
Siegel says that by evaluating the bank's productivity over time spent, it hopes to remove any sense of barriers to promotion and advancement that part-time employees feel.
"We expect the shorter work week will also help us attract a more diverse workforce and encourage people who previously could not stick to the standard five-day work week to join us,"he said.
Other participants in the 4-day UK workweek include game developer Hatch, telecom services company U telecom, billions of Fish and chips in Norfolk, Salamandra Animation Studios and Timberlake consulting.
Similar trials have been conducted or are taking place in Iceland, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Scotland and Spain.
Some employers are not keen on more flexible working arrangements. Tesla boss Elon Musk last week told employees in a leaked email that they must return to the office to work at least 40 hours a week or leave the company.
The Icelandic Association for sustainable democracy and self-government deemed the four-day-a-week trials between 2015 and 2019 an "overwhelming success", with workers reporting improved work-life balance and employers reporting increased productivity.
Microsoft's 2019 experience of a 4-day work week with 2,300 employees in Japan increased productivity by 40%, measured by sales per employee. Every Friday employees were given one month's leave without a reduction in wages.
Microsoft said workers were overwhelmed by working a week in four days by keeping meetings shorter, switching to remote meetings, or cutting out meetings deemed unnecessary.
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