UK companies experimented with 4-day workweek: stress decreased, revenue increased
About 71% of employees reported a lower level of "burnout"
The University of Cambridge has published the results of an experiment with a four-day workweek (32 hours) among UK companies, involving 2900 people.
For six months, employees of 61 organizations worked four days a week, and after the end of the experiment, 92% decided to continue with this schedule.
To reduce working hours without sacrificing results, companies held shorter meetings with a clear agenda, introduced periods of work without breaks, changed email etiquette, and began to make lists of tasks for the next day at the end of the day.
The researchers evaluated the results by interviewing each employee before, after, and during the experiment.
About 71% of employees reported a lower level of "burnout," and 39% felt less stress compared to before the experiment. 62% of participants were able to better combine work and social life.
The number of missed working days due to illness decreased by 65%, and the number of dismissals decreased by 57% year-on-year. Revenues of the 23 companies that provided data grew by 1.4% on average.
56 out of 61 companies decided to continue the experiment, while 18 left the four-day working week for good.
The study involved businesses from various industries: online stores, financial services providers, an animation studio, Fish & Chips café, consulting, hospitality, marketing, and others.
Prior to that, the world's largest experiment with a shorter working week took place in Iceland from 2015 to 2019: almost 3,000 civil servants from various fields took part in it. Its results were recognized as positive: productivity did not decrease, and people became happier.
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