Can the four day week put an end to burnout and poor mental health at work?
Can the four day week put an end to burnout and poor mental health at work?
A six month project will see more than 3,300 employees at 70 companies work a four day week with no loss of pay.
The pilot runs from this month until the end of the year among a variety of employers, ranging from a seaside fish and chip shop to finance, construction, education and IT businesses. The organiser, 4 Day Week Global, is running the scheme alongside Cambridge and Oxford universities, Boston College, Autonomy and the 4 Day Week Campaign.
New frontiers for quality of life
The UK is leading the way in testing the potential of new ways of working, said 4 Day Week Global’s CEO Joe O’Connor. “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognising 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.”
Researchers will be tracking the progress of participants in terms of their wellbeing (stress and burnout), productivity, the changes in environmental footprint (travel and energy use) and issues like gender equality.
“The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business,” said the chief executive of one participant, the Charity Bank. “We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.”
Not just productivity
EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The Covid-19 experience in itself was a huge experiment in the impact of home working and more time for friends and family. What was clear from that was how differently people reacted. For some, more free time was a golden opportunity; for others it only heightened their sense of isolation.
“The four day week will certainly improve satisfaction levels for a proportion of the workforce, provide more of a release valve for pressures. But more time off is not going to be the simple answer to the UK’s challenges around stress and mental ill-health.
“It’s very clear in the trial that employers expect to maintain, and believe they can raise, levels of productivity. In other words many staff will find they’re under more pressure to deliver outputs and results in the four days. As we all know, holidays can be a welcome relief, but they don’t mean anything has changed when we’re back to our routines. A healthy balance for employees happens when organisations understand the pressures, are willing to listen to individual concerns and be flexible in everyday ways, when there’s a culture of trust and support.”