As of today, the largest four-day work week experiment is underway in Britain, involving around 3,300 employees from 70 companies. The experiment will last six months, until January 2023, enough time for the results to be seen.
The four-day working week has been described by many as the future of work and seems to be coming closer and closer.
From today on Britain The largest four-day work week experiment is underway, involving approximately 3,300 employees from 70 companies. The experiment will last six months, until January 2023, enough time for the results to be seen.
The entire project is organized by 4 Day Week Global, along with the think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign and researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College, who will collect and analyze the results.
The researchers will work with each organization to measure the impact of reduced hours on the productivity and well-being of its employees, as well as the impact on the environment and gender equality.
Those who participate will work one day less per weekwhile will receive the same fee.
According to the organizations leading the pilot program, employees are expected to follow the “100: 80: 100 model – that is, 100% of pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.”
“By moving first we have many advantages,” said Paddy Lambros, head of human resources at technology company Sensat, which has already begun testing.
“We have seen an increase in applications, we have been able to hire more different people and we have been able to set priorities as a business more effectively,” he told Euronews.
Prior to the pandemic, Sensat staff were in office five days a week and did not hire teleworkers.
Sensat will see how the test goes before deciding whether to continue with the four-day workweek – and they anticipate some potential problems.
Lambros said the company had to work a little harder to maintain social relations between colleagues as a result of the dismissal, and the four-day week is making that worse.
“We have not seen a drop in productivity. But some of the things that can be sacrificed are opportunities for the group to speak more socially. “We need to be more proactive in ensuring that people spend enough time together to build strong productive relationships.”
