Broadway

Complete News World

A pilot program is starting in Great Britain over a 4-day week

A pilot program is starting in Great Britain over a 4-day week

VFrom June to December, more than 70 British companies and institutions take the test Four day week – and without loss of wages for employees. However, in return, they strive to maintain their productivity at 100 percent.

Behind the largest initiative on the four-day week to date are the 4-day week global organizations in collaboration with leading think tank Autonomy and the 4-day week campaign. The project is scientifically supported by researchers from the University of Cambridge, Oxford and Boston College. They want to measure the impact on productivity and employee well-being, while also examining the effects on the environment and gender equality.

Juliet Shore, professor of sociology at Boston College and lead researcher on the pilot, told The Guardian: “We will analyze how workers respond to the extra day off in terms of stress and fatigue, work and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy consumption, travel and many other aspects of life.”

Projects in other countries as well

The project involves more than 3,300 workers from more than thirty sectors across the UK, including banks, maintenance companies and animation studios. The UK trial is running alongside similar pilots in Ireland, the US and Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Israel.

The debate over the four-day week in the United Kingdom, traditionally one of the longest working weeks in Europe, has accelerated since the coronavirus pandemic. Joe O’Connor, chief executive of 4 Day Week Global, said the UK was “on the crest of a wave of global dynamics behind the four day week” as people adjusted to leaving the office during the pandemic. “As the pandemic ends, more and more companies are realizing that the new frontier of competition is quality of life, and that reduced working hours and a focus on efficiency are the means to gain a competitive advantage,” O’Connor told the Guardian.

The Labor Party Jeremy Corbyn had already promised in 2019 to introduce a four-day week within a decade if he led the party to victory in the general election.