After 4-Day Workweek Trial, Some Employees Said 'No Amount of Money' Could Make Them Go Back to Working 5 Days
The experiment proved to benefit stress levels, sleep, and mental health.
By Madeline Garfinkle •
In July, about 3,000 workers across 61 different companies in the United Kingdom embarked on the largest four-day workweek trial in the world. The six-month trial was organized by nonprofits 4 Day Week Global and 4 Day Week UK Campaign along with researchers at the think-tank, Autonomy.
Now, as the six-month trial comes to an end, the results proved to be widely beneficial to both workers and employers:
- Overall revenue across the companies rose by 35% when compared to the same period last year.
- Employee rates of stress, burnout, and sleep problems reportedly declined, while health and well-being improved.
- Additionally, there was a 57% decline in the likelihood that an employee would quit — and a 65% reduction in sick days.
"There are also some interesting differences," said Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College and the study's lead researcher, in a statement. "We found that employees in non-profits and professional services had a larger average increase in time spent exercising, while those in construction/manufacturing enjoyed the largest reductions in burnout and sleep problems."
Related: Is the 4-Day Work Week Better? Evidence Points to Yes.
The majority of the companies that participated in the trial chose to extend or permanently implement the four-day week (92%), while only 4% reported no plans to extend or continue.
Many of the employees who participated in the trial reported such an improvement in their quality of life that 15% said "no amount of money" would make them go back to working five days a week.
"Across a wide variety of different sectors of the economy, these incredible results show that the four-day week with no loss of pay really works, Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said in a statement. "Surely the time has now come to begin rolling it out across the country."
