Organizations in Great Britain: The four-day week as an experiment

Only work four days a week – can it work? 70 companies in Great Britain are currently testing. It is the world’s largest initiative. An interim report.

Andy Bass is an art director at Hutch, a company that designs and distributes computer games. For the past three months, he and his team have been working only four days a week – for the same pay. Friday is free. And it works well:

Published every month

But after three months, Boss makes a positive interim decision: they will have produced the publication every month. A trained graphic designer feels comfortable with the new four-day week. Andy now has more family time, more time to spend with the kids, dog walking, biking. On a three-day weekend, he can really switch off. It’s a real fresh start for him and his team before heading back to the office on Monday.

Anna also works at Hutch, where she and her team analyze the data the company receives from players to make shows more fun and better. She is excited about the four-day week. Meetings have been canceled or drastically reduced, and the entire corporate culture has turned inside out.

Sometimes she observed: “Well, I need two hours for that, but I only have one hour.” Then it worked in an hour. More focused work, less procrastination, and a new mindset in the organization ensures that you can work more creatively.

Hatch CEO Shaun Rutland says it feels like working at a startup, even though the company has been in business for ten years. There’s a desire to get things done, he explains. Rutland could well imagine the company sticking to the four-day week, even if the trial ends at the end of November.

70 companies are involved in the trial

70 companies in the UK are participating with a total of 3,300 employees. A research team evaluates whether productivity is increasing, how work is changing, and how employees are performing. Cambridge and Oxford universities are involved. Companies from a wide range of industries are taking part in the trial, including fish and chip shops, care facilities and shops.

Maryam Salman of the 4DayWeek Initiative is happy that various organizations are participating in the trial. This shows that many companies are switching to a four-day week and many employees can benefit.

The results of the world’s largest trial should prove this. Results will be available by end of November, beginning of December.