Study: Companies involved in four-day workday pilot say it doesn't cost productivity

More than 70 companies in the UK are running a six-month experiment where their employees have one day of paid leave a week. So far, most companies say things are going well. SpzToid shared a report: According to a survey of participants released on Wednesday, the majority of companies participating in the UK four-day workweek pilot said they saw no loss in productivity during the experiment and, in some cases, did to a marked improvement. In the 6-month trial, employees at 73 companies had one day of paid leave a week, and of the 41 companies that responded to the survey, 35 said they were "likely" or "highly likely" to consider the end of November. After the experiment, the four-day work week will continue to be implemented. All but two of the 41 companies said productivity had either stayed the same or improved. Notably, six companies reported a noticeable increase in productivity. Discussions about the four-day work week have been around for decades. In 1956, then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon said he foresaw a "not too distant future," although it had not yet materialized on a large scale. But the workplace changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic surrounding remote and hybrid working models have given momentum to questions about other aspects of work. We work five days a week just because we've been doing it for over a century, or is that really the best way to go? Some of the company leaders who participated in the trial said the four-day workweek gave employees more time to exercise, cook, spend time with their families and develop hobbies, boosting their well-being and making them more energetic and productive at work. Critics, however, fear increased costs and reduced competitiveness, especially when many European companies have fallen behind rivals in other regions. More than 3,300 workers in the UK's banking, marketing, healthcare, financial services, retail, hospitality and other industries are taking part in the trial, the largest number of workers to date One of the largest studies.