9:07 am, September 21, 2022
The prospect of a four-day working week may have moved a step closer after 86 per cent of companies taking place in a groundbreaking trial said they would carry on with the arrangement.
More than 70 firms, including automotive parts retailer, Eurowagens, have been taking place in the initiative over the last three months.
A survey taken at the half way stage has now revealed that almost nine in ten of those outfits are now considering extending the arrangement.
The majority of firms said it is working well with around 95 per cent saying productivity had either improved or stayed the same.
The results could help bring about the biggest change in UK working practice in a generation if its findings are widely adopted.
The trial is being operated by 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit group, in partnership with think tank, Autonomy.
The Times reports that the initiative is also backed by researchers at Boston College and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, all of which are lobbying for a 32-hour working week with no reduction in pay.
The trial covers more than 3,300 workers across more than 70 companies in a variety of different sectors. It is not known if any car dealerships are taking part.
Joe O’Connor, chief executive of 4 Week Global, which is running the scheme across a number of countries, said: ‘We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are some understandable hurdles – especially among those which have comparatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems, or cultures which date back well into the last century.
He added that results of the trial could be used to ‘support other organisations and sectors considering switching to a four-day week in the future’.
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