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Topics: News, Mental Health, UK News
Charisa Bossinakis
Topics: News, Mental Health, UK News
The world’s biggest four-day work week trial has ended, and many companies are sticking with it after seeing tremendous results.
The study, released earlier this week, found that nine out of the 10 companies would continue with the four-day work week after the overwhelmingly positive response.
Between June and December 2022, over 60 firms took part in the trial across the UK, with almost 3,000 employees made to work one day less a week while earning the same income.
The idea, introduced by the non-profit group 4 Day Week Global, hopes to boost ‘business productivity, worker health outcomes, stronger families and communities, and challenge the gender equality issues’ to create a more sustainable working environment.
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And it looks like it did just that.
"Results are largely steady across workplaces of varying sizes, demonstrating this is an innovation which works for many types of organisations," said lead researcher and Boston College professor Juliet Schor said in a statement.
Research revealed that the average company revenue rose 1.4 per cent for 23 companies during the trial.
While another 24 companies saw revenue climb more than 34 per cent from the same six-month period a year earlier.
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There was also a reduction in employees quitting their job, as 57 per cent fewer people walked away compared with the same period a year earlier.
Additionally, the findings revealed that staff members calling in sick was down 65 per cent compared to a year ago.
Aside from a boost in productivity and revenue, mental health and wellbeing among employees improved as they had more time to exercise, and job satisfaction increased.
Around 92 per cent of the companies that took part in the trial said they would continue with the four-day workweek, with 30 per cent saying it's a permanent change.
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Tyler Grange client director Nathan Jenkinson, who was among one of the firms to permanently adopt the four-day work week, told AFP: “My experience has only been really, really positive, you can see it in people day-to-day at work, that they're more energised at work.”
He added that staff members ‘come into work at the start of the week on a Monday, having had three days rest, and they're feeling much more positive about work and got a lot more energy’.
Following the lockdown, many have urged the shorter work week to be implemented nationally; however, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there are ‘no plans’ for that anytime soon, as per SBS News.