4 ms·

4-day week made permanent for 89% UK firms who took part in Worlds biggest trial

56 points by robaato 3y ago

robaato 3y ago
Clarifying - not 89% of UK firms overall - but those in the trial! Of the 61 organisations that took part in a six-month UK pilot in 2022, 54 (89%) are still operating the policy a year later, and 31 (51%) have made the change permanent.
- oluwie 3y ago
  i think that's implied by accurately reading the title
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
    It is but the title also appears to be wrong. It was only made permanent for 51% (31 of 61) of those in the trial. The 89% are still operating the policy but that haven't necessarily formally adopted it as permanent. > Research shows 51% that took part permanently adopted the change, while 89% still operating policy one year on
webel0 3y ago
> Most gave their staff one full day off a week, either universal or staggered. I think that this will start to take off if stakeholders can start to coalesce around a single day. Either Monday or Friday. Once you build up the expectation that people are off on a given day, it becomes that much easier for a new firm to adopt (because, e.g., none of their counterparties are in the office).
- dugmartin 3y ago
  I’d rather it was Wednesday I think. Work two days, have a day off, work two days and have two days off seems more attractive to me long term.
  - r2_pilot 3y ago
    I've found when I take mental health days they tend to be on Wednesdays (usually afternoon only), which tracks.
    - aitchnyu 3y ago
      Tangengial, Do the companies doing mental health days also give them certainty they wont be laid off at the drop of a hat and other uncertainties?
      - r2_pilot 3y ago
        I don't quite track what you mean. I use personal leave for these events (often I don't provide much notice; my brain doesn't either). It's not been a problem so far as I have been told, nor is that a concern I have in my field generally. Being able to take care of things that inevitably fail to fit within the constraints of a weekend is quite beneficial and leads to a lot lower stress levels, which benefits everyone.
        hirvi74 3y ago
        Do you tell your employer that you are taking a mental health day, or do you lie an feign some kind of physical illness? My employer would not respect mental health days by any means. I've taken them before, but I have always faked another illness. I have also always had this overwhelming feeling of guilt and anxiety that if I got caught, I'd be reprimanded.
        r2_pilot 3y ago
        I usually just say, sometimes earlier in the week, or often the day of, that I'm going to use my personal leave for the afternoon or day, and my supervisor says okay (I've never once been turned down in the almost 8 years I've been here). It's very much emphasized(I've had 3 bosses say this) that my personal leave is for me to use as I see fit, so long as it's done responsibly. For example, if I were taking a week off, I'd let them know probably a month or two in advance, when I started planning. I also have major medical leave separate from my personal leave. I once had to use an entire month(bedridden for 26 days) and it wasn't a problem; I just had to send my doctor's notes to my supervisor once a week while I recovered.
TrackerFF 3y ago
Last time I discussed (results from a similar study) this with some higher ups, their knee-jerk reactions was: "If they managed to deliver as much in 4 days as they previously did in 5 days, then it sounds like they were slacking off more prior to the experiment." I think that for some leaders, no data in the world is going to convince them that one day less of butts in the seat can be a positive thing. They'll forever chase the idea of maximizing 5-day workweeks, and that's that.
- BriggyDwiggs42 3y ago
  Change will probably come when they age out
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    Progress occurs one funeral at a time. - Max Planck
- grecy 3y ago
  That sounds like a very clear sign it's time for you to fire your boss and find a better one.
  - deprecative 3y ago
    When 99.9%+ of all jobs worth having will be 5 day work weeks it's irrelevant. Then you have how utter garbage the job market is right now and that's a bad time waiting to happen. People really need to get over their bootstraps fantasy and start realizing the problem is systemic.
    - grecy 3y ago
      I know many people working in tech who work 3 or 4 days a week. My last programming job nearly 10 years ago I was working 4 days a week, and at my job before that there were 3 programmers who were 4 days a week. Simply list it as a requirement when searching for jobs and go from there. It's all negotiable, if you work at it.
dsq 3y ago
Don't laugh, but it may be the biggest impetus to a 4 day week will be the drive to a three day weekend, including Friday, Saturday and Sunday as covering the traditional days of rest of the three Abrahamic religions. This would have a lot of buy in from large parts of the population and politicians.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Religion drove a lot of nonsensical stuff in history, so I can believe it. I wouldn't mind it actually benefiting society for once.

56 points by robaato 3y ago

Clarifying - not 89% of UK firms overall - but those in the trial! Of the 61 organisations that took part in a six-month UK pilot in 2022, 54 (89%) are still operating the policy a year later, and 31 (51%) have made the change permanent.

oluwie 3y ago
i think that's implied by accurately reading the title
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  It is but the title also appears to be wrong. It was only made permanent for 51% (31 of 61) of those in the trial. The 89% are still operating the policy but that haven't necessarily formally adopted it as permanent. > Research shows 51% that took part permanently adopted the change, while 89% still operating policy one year on

webel0 3y ago

> Most gave their staff one full day off a week, either universal or staggered. I think that this will start to take off if stakeholders can start to coalesce around a single day. Either Monday or Friday. Once you build up the expectation that people are off on a given day, it becomes that much easier for a new firm to adopt (because, e.g., none of their counterparties are in the office).

dugmartin 3y ago
I’d rather it was Wednesday I think. Work two days, have a day off, work two days and have two days off seems more attractive to me long term.
- r2_pilot 3y ago
  I've found when I take mental health days they tend to be on Wednesdays (usually afternoon only), which tracks.
  - aitchnyu 3y ago
    Tangengial, Do the companies doing mental health days also give them certainty they wont be laid off at the drop of a hat and other uncertainties?
    - r2_pilot 3y ago
      I don't quite track what you mean. I use personal leave for these events (often I don't provide much notice; my brain doesn't either). It's not been a problem so far as I have been told, nor is that a concern I have in my field generally. Being able to take care of things that inevitably fail to fit within the constraints of a weekend is quite beneficial and leads to a lot lower stress levels, which benefits everyone.
      - hirvi74 3y ago
        Do you tell your employer that you are taking a mental health day, or do you lie an feign some kind of physical illness? My employer would not respect mental health days by any means. I've taken them before, but I have always faked another illness. I have also always had this overwhelming feeling of guilt and anxiety that if I got caught, I'd be reprimanded.
        r2_pilot 3y ago
        I usually just say, sometimes earlier in the week, or often the day of, that I'm going to use my personal leave for the afternoon or day, and my supervisor says okay (I've never once been turned down in the almost 8 years I've been here). It's very much emphasized(I've had 3 bosses say this) that my personal leave is for me to use as I see fit, so long as it's done responsibly. For example, if I were taking a week off, I'd let them know probably a month or two in advance, when I started planning. I also have major medical leave separate from my personal leave. I once had to use an entire month(bedridden for 26 days) and it wasn't a problem; I just had to send my doctor's notes to my supervisor once a week while I recovered.

TrackerFF 3y ago

Last time I discussed (results from a similar study) this with some higher ups, their knee-jerk reactions was: "If they managed to deliver as much in 4 days as they previously did in 5 days, then it sounds like they were slacking off more prior to the experiment." I think that for some leaders, no data in the world is going to convince them that one day less of butts in the seat can be a positive thing. They'll forever chase the idea of maximizing 5-day workweeks, and that's that.

BriggyDwiggs42 3y ago
Change will probably come when they age out
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Progress occurs one funeral at a time. - Max Planck
grecy 3y ago
That sounds like a very clear sign it's time for you to fire your boss and find a better one.
- deprecative 3y ago
  When 99.9%+ of all jobs worth having will be 5 day work weeks it's irrelevant. Then you have how utter garbage the job market is right now and that's a bad time waiting to happen. People really need to get over their bootstraps fantasy and start realizing the problem is systemic.
  - grecy 3y ago
    I know many people working in tech who work 3 or 4 days a week. My last programming job nearly 10 years ago I was working 4 days a week, and at my job before that there were 3 programmers who were 4 days a week. Simply list it as a requirement when searching for jobs and go from there. It's all negotiable, if you work at it.

dsq 3y ago

Don't laugh, but it may be the biggest impetus to a 4 day week will be the drive to a three day weekend, including Friday, Saturday and Sunday as covering the traditional days of rest of the three Abrahamic religions. This would have a lot of buy in from large parts of the population and politicians.

johnnyanmac 3y ago
Religion drove a lot of nonsensical stuff in history, so I can believe it. I wouldn't mind it actually benefiting society for once.