UK’s 4-day work week trial called “life changing” but does it ensure productivity?

More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, many have burned out, lost their jobs, or are struggling to make ends meet as record inflation takes a toll on global economy.

But, for the past eight weeks, thousands of people in the United Kingdom have been testing a four-day workweek – the world's biggest trial so far – without any pay cut, which may help usher in a new era of employment.

Some employees have already stated that they feel happier, healthier, and are performing better at work, according to CNN.

"LIFE CHANGING"

Lisa Gilbert, a lending services manager at Charity Bank, an ethical loans provider in the southwest of England, termed her new routine "phenomenal".

"I can really enjoy my weekend now because I've got my Friday for my chores and my other bits and pieces or... if I just want to take my mum out for a walk I can do that now without feeling guilty," she told CNN Business.

Gilbert cares for her son and two elderly parents. Now, she can spend more time with her family because of the extra day off each week, which relieves her of the Saturday morning chore of getting her groceries, the report said.

"I find that I'm saying 'yes we can' as opposed to 'no sorry we can't,'" she said.

Read more

Can Bangladesh ever adopt the 4-day work week?

According to CNN, the six-month pilot makes 3,300 workers across 70 companies work 80 percent of their usual week in exchange for agreeing to maintain 100 percent of their productivity.

The programme is being run by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.

The new working pattern's effects on production levels, gender equality, the environment, and employee well-being will all be monitored by researchers. At the end of November, companies can decide whether or not to stick with the new schedule, it said.

But, for Gilbert, the verdict is already in: It's been "life changing", she said.

"GENUINELY CHAOTIC"

There have been some bumps along the way, however.

Samantha Losey, managing director at Unity, a public relations agency in London, told CNN Business that the first week was "genuinely chaotic".

Star file photo

"To be totally honest with you, those first two weeks – really a mess. We were all over the shop. I thought I'd made a huge error. I didn't know what I was doing," she said.

But her team quickly found ways to make it work. Now, the company has banned all internal meetings longer than five minutes, keeps all client meetings to 30 minutes and has introduced a "traffic light" system to prevent unnecessary disturbances – colleagues have a light on their desk, and set it to "green" if they are happy to talk, "amber" if they are busy but available to speak, and "red" if they do not want to be interrupted.

By the fourth week, according to Losey, her team had found their groove. However, she acknowledges that there is "definitely" a chance she would go back to a five-day week if productivity levels decline over the length of the six-month study.

"LIKE A LIBRARY"

Iceland had been conducting the four-day workweek experiment up until last month.

Importantly, the experiment discovered a considerable improvement in employee well-being without a commensurate decline in productivity, it added.

Read more

World's largest trial of 4-day work week begins in the UK

Gary Conroy (right), founder and CEO of 5 Squirrels, a skincare product manufacturer, established "deep work time" at his company to enhance productivity.

For two hours every morning, and two hours every afternoon, Conroy's staff ignores emails, calls or Teams messages and concentrates on their projects.

"The whole place goes like a library, and everybody just gets their head down and smashes through the work," he told CNN.

People spend most of their day on "busywork" – or work for work's sake – according to a survey of 10,600 workers by Asana last September. The software company found that the workers in the United States spend about 58 percent of their day on activities such as answering emails and attending meetings, rather than the work they were hired for.

"FIT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY"

One of the primary factors, according to Losey, in her decision to include Unity in the pilot was to offset the "extreme amount of fatigue" her employees experienced during the worst of the pandemic.

Mark Howland, Charity Bank's director of marketing and communications, told CNN Business, "With my day off I've been going on quite long bike rides, looking after myself, taking some time out and then having the whole weekend to get things done around the house and to spend time with family."

The bank may not go back to the way things were.

"The five-day working week is a 20th century concept, which is no longer fit for the 21st century," he said.