200 Companies Sign Up to a Four-Day Working Week: Is This The Future?
The idea of a four-day week has been front-page news since the 1960s. With more companies introducing pilot experiments utilising a reduced-hour working model, could this finally signal a shift in the modern workforce or is it just another continuation of the saga?
Recent headlines stated that over 200 companies have signed up to a permanent four-day week, yet considering there are around 5 million limited companies set up in the UK the shift feels relatively small.
Originally, the working week centred around industry due to the sheer number of hours required to operate dangerous machinery in order for factories to turn a profit. Various movements and unions campaigned at the end of the 19th century to swipe an extra day of rest, which led to our current five-day week.
4 Day Week Global is an organisation pioneering the change of the 9-5 around the world, ultimately allowing workers more time for rest and leisure. The goal is not only to improve the mental and physical well-being of employees, but to demonstrate that productivity and output can be achieved in less time.
The movement has already had roaring success with 94% of participants stating they want to carry on with the model. Participants are thought to have gained a net 2851 years of free time from working one less day a week.
Despite the growing appetite for change and the flourishing evidence that a reduced-hour model can be highly effective, some of the largest and most successful companies in the world such as JP Morgan and Amazon are heading in the opposite direction.
These companies are asking their staff to return to the office full-time. The main argument for the change centres around productivity and the benefits of in-person collaboration.
In the wake of the pandemic, employees have adjusted their lives to fit around remote or hybrid-working and many have finally started to feel they have a healthy work-life balance.
You only have to scroll through LinkedIn for two minutes to see various accounts of how working from home has allowed parents to be present for their kids, for people to become more active and to complete daily chores in their lunch breaks. All of which contributes to a greater quality of life and sense of fulfilment.
Lily, an Account Manager at an Influencer Marketing agency in London is in support of moving towards a four-day week, noting that “it’s hard to squeeze all the household tasks into the weekend as well as having time to socialise and relax”.
Yet companies still insist on taking these key benefits away from their employees.
Whilst there are arguments for both sides of the story, Breathe HR suggests that businesses can see increased productivity when adopting a four-day week as employees are happier and suffer from fewer health issues. Although it’s noted that this doesn’t suit every business model.
Breathe HR also argues that adopting a four-day week could reduce businesses operational costs. Research from Henley Business School found 66% of businesses were able to cut their costs and as a result £104 billion has been saved by participating.
Employees can also benefit financially from a reduced-hour model as travelling to work five days a week can come at a significant cost.
The UK has experienced volatile fuel prices over the past few years and public transport fares continue to increase; Transport for London (TfL) announced last December that tube and rail fares will be rising by 4.6% in line with national rail as of March 2025.
Georgia, a Social Media Manager from London said her commute costs on average £10 a day. So if you’re in the office five days a week, you could be saying goodbye to nearly £200 a month getting to work.
Ranked as the 8th most expensive European country in terms of living costs in 2024, things are already considered to be tight. The average monthly salary in the UK works out to be £2,442, to put this into perspective the average private rent is around £1,092 a month.
So, why aren’t we seeing a shift if happier and healthier employees are more productive and businesses can cut costs?
One reason could be due to the lack of example; if household names fail to set an example of how highly profitable companies can create a healthy work-life balance for their employees it doesn’t set a precedent for smaller companies to follow.
Alternatively businesses could be more reluctant to adopt the reduced-hour working model due to the ever present cost of living crisis in the UK. With prices continuing to rise, making a move like this may feel too risky, especially to small business owners.
Although a shift in the workforce doesn’t seem likely, it’s important not to discount the small steps towards progress that some companies are already taking to improve the lives of their employees.
Written by Kelsey Goldstein
