Labor

UK Workers Begin World's Biggest Trial of Four-Day Week

JUN 6 2022·Updated DEC 28 2022

Story

Image credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images [via The Guardian]

The Facts

A six-month program involving employees from 70 companies across the UK has been launched to test the effects of a four-day workweek.
nytimes
Workers will attempt to provide 100% of their regular output while working 80% of their usual hours for 100% of their pay. Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Boston College will announce the results of the trial on productivity and quality of life in 2023.
nytimes
The pilot has been organized in conjunction with the think tank Autonomy and the 4 Day Week Campaign after the pandemic encouraged more companies to improve the work-life balance for employees and give themselves a competitive edge in the job market.
guardian
The four-day working week has previously been tested in nations including Iceland, where 2.5k employees piloted a shorter week between 2015 and 2019. The experiment found that employee well-being increased dramatically while productivity remained the same.
CNN
New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern encouraged the implementation of a four-day working week in May 2020, while Spain and Scotland are due to start government-backed four-day work week trials later this year.
Independent
The impending trial will include a wide range of businesses in hospitality, consulting, education, housing, and digital marketing, and includes employers such as the Royal Society of Biology, a London brewery called Pressure Drop, and a fish and chip shop in Norfolk.
Daily Mail

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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The Spin

Right narrative

Reducing working hours when Britain is already in the grip of a post-pandemic recruitment crisis is ludicrous. This idea cannot be implemented in customer-facing jobs or 24/7 operations, where the extra cost would end up being levied on employers or the taxpayer. This idea would only reduce the quality of life and dampen the economy. Who will be left to perform labor in times of crisis?

Daily Mail

Left narrative

The goal of creating a "new way of working" is a direct response to the impacts of the pandemic-era "great resignation." A four-day work week has the potential to make staff less stressed and improve their health, while employers could benefit from heightened productivity and better worker retention.