UK four-day week trial results in reduced staff burnout

Of the 61 companies to participate in the study between June and December 2022, 56 are continuing with a four-day week ( 92%) now that the trial has concluded.

Of the five organisations who reported they are not continuing with a four-day week, two have extended their trials and three are pausing for the time being.

The study was conducted in the UK by non-profit organisation 4 Day Week Global, with the UK’s 4 Day Week Campaign and think tank Autonomy. Juliet Schor and Wen Fan of Boston College and Cambridge University’s David Frayne and Brendan Burchell led the research.

Companies who took part in the research were not required to deploy one particular type of working time reduction, so the pilot involved a range of models, but they all had to maintain 100% of pay.

When compared to a similar period from previous years, organisations taking part in the trial reported revenue increases of 35% on average, the research found.

The number of staff leaving organisations reduced by 57% during the trial period.

On average, organisations rated their overall experience of the trial 8.3 out of 10, while both ‘business performance’ and ‘productivity’ scored an average of 7.5 out of 10 on two separate scales.

The majority of employees taking part in the trial who responded to a survey from researchers ( 90%) reported that they ‘definitely want to continue’ on a four-day week.

Over half ( 55%) reported an increase in their ability at work, while 71% had reduced levels of ‘burnout’ by the end of the pilot, captured through a score amalgamated from associated criteria including tiredness, exhaustion and frustration.

Additionally, 73% reported that they had ‘greater satisfaction with their time’. 

The research also found that 39% of respondents were less stressed, and 43% felt they had experienced an improvement in mental health. 

The UK pilot findings have been added to a bigger global data set, combining the cohort with previous ones from trials in Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Lead researcher Juliet Schor, professor at Boston College, said: “Results are largely steady across workplaces of varying sizes, demonstrating this is an innovation which works for many types of organisations.

“There are also some interesting differences. We found that employees in non-profits and professional services had a larger average increase in time spent exercising, while those in construction/manufacturing enjoyed the largest reductions in burnout and sleep problems.”

Dale Whelehan, behavioural scientist and chief executive at 4 Day Week Global said: “While both men and women benefit from a 4 day week, women’s experience is generally better. This is the case for burnout, life and job satisfaction, mental health and reduced commuting time. Encouragingly, the burden of non-work duties appears to be balancing out, with more men taking on a greater share of housework and childcare.”

Methodology
The research used administrative data from companies and survey data from employees. In the pre-trial phase, companies completed an ‘onboarding’ survey and provided six months of data to be used as a comparison with corresponding data collected during the six-month trial.

Once the trial began, companies provided monthly data on a set of common metrics (revenue, absenteeism, resignations, and new hires). Productivity and other performance metrics were not included in the common set because organisations vary considerably in what data they collect in the normal course of business operation.

Approximately 2,900 staff took part in the UK pilot. At baseline, 1,967 out of the 2,548 employees who received the survey completed it. Of those, 70% participated in the endpoint survey.