Two hundred British companies have committed to implementing the four-day workweek following the campaign and pilot program undertaken two years ago by the 4 Day Week Foundation. A total of 5,000 workers, in sectors ranging from marketing to technology, financial advisory to social care and NGOs, have benefited from the changes in the employment relationship, which have resulted - according to its promoters - in increased productivity, improved employee health and well-being, and a reduction in CO2 emissions.
"The 9 to 5 workday, five days a week, was invented 100 years ago, it no longer serves its purpose and needs updating," says Joe Ryle, director of the campaign that is having a significant impact on British public opinion, as a counterpoint to the imperative messages of "return to the office" promoted in recent months by large companies like Amazon and banks like JP Morgan Chase.
"The 32-hour workweek in four days, without a loss of pay, is a situation where both companies and workers benefit," warns Rye, highlighting how 92% of the companies that participated in the pilot program have continued to implement it and 86% of workers have been in favor of the change in their routines.
59 companies in London are leading the way, although the trend is spreading throughout the UK. The local district of South Cambridgeshire leads the initiative in the public sector, following productivity gains and an approximate saving of 430,000 euros in one year during the pilot program.
The Labour government has given the green light to other districts to subscribe to the measure, and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has expressed support for its implementation, although the political momentum has not materialized since Keir Starmer took office at Downing Street and the Conservative Party has strongly supported the return to the office in the post-pandemic era.
One of the main proponents of the four-day week has been Labour MP Peter Dowd, who in 2022 presented a bill in Parliament to reduce the weekly hours to 32 and facilitate its implementation in the British Isles.
"The 9 to 5 model that still prevails in the West was designed for an industrial and agricultural economy that does not reflect the needs of the modern world," warns Dowd. "The UK has one of the longest working hours, yet we are one of the least productive economies."
78% of workers aged 18 to 34 believe that the four-day workweek will be a norm in the next five years, and 65% are opposed to full-time office work, according to a survey by Spark Market Research. "The workforce of the next fifty years does not want to return to the old work models," says Lynsey Carolan, director of Spark, to The Guardian. "Mental health and well-being are a priority for this generation, and the four-day workweek will be vital to improving quality of life."
71% of workers who participated in the pilot program of the 4 Day Week Foundation reported feeling less "burned out" by work overload, and 39% acknowledged a significant improvement in anxiety and stress levels. In addition to the labor and social benefits, there are also environmental benefits: a four-day workweek would save 127 tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the emissions of 27 million private cars in the same period.
Three out of four Britons believe that the five-day workweek in the office is detrimental to their mental and physical health and overall well-being, according to another survey by the International Workplace Group. 85% of those who benefited from the "hybrid model" after the pandemic admit to having greater "job satisfaction," 76% claim to be more "motivated," and 74% say they are more productive.