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4 days of work: UK experiment a success

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4 days of work: UK experiment a success

As an experiment, he proved extremely successful, and so his results were presented to him yesterday. british parliamentpossibly with the prospect of becoming a reality for all of them in the near future workers in Britain.

The reason for the four-day work week has been adopted on a pilot basis by 61 businesses in the UK from a wide range of industries, from banks, technology companies and educational organizations to consulting companies and from retailers to talent groups.

The experiment involved about 3,000 workers who were given the opportunity to work either four days a week or, in some cases, five days, but with a shorter working day. And all this, of course, without reducing their salary.

After a six-month trial run, its success became apparent, as 56 out of 61 companies, that is, nine out of ten, decided to extend it. Among them are 18 who said they now take it on a permanent basis.

The motivation of enterprises and the criterion for the success of the experiment was the increase in labor productivity, where, by all indications, there was a general conclusion. At the same time, the motivation of the employees was the best balance between career and family or personal life, which also proves that the experiment was extremely successful.

In a conversation with researchers summarizing the results of the experiment, 39% of the participants said they experienced less stress at work, 40% said they had better sleep, and 54% said that the experiment really helped them balance their career with family responsibilities.

In addition to what the employees themselves said, companies also reported that during the experiment, sick leave requests from their employees decreased by 2/3, and employee layoffs by 57%.

The criterion for the success of the pilot program was the increase in productivity.

After all, the companies announced that their revenue increased by an average of 1/3 compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, several companies spoke about the difficulties encountered. Mark Downes, chief executive of the Royal Society for Biology, stressed the importance of rethinking the way the company operates. As he pointed out, “it is impossible to reduce working hours and keep productivity unchanged.” He also explained that various difficulties arose along the way, such as sometimes the work required the presence of all staff even on weekends, as they had to attend some important meetings.

At the same time, Rivelin Robotics, a startup that makes robots for industries ranging from aerospace to medical, stressed that there are challenges that need to be addressed. As they pointed out, sometimes work can’t wait. For example, in a situation where they had to attend a trade show and they had a product or two later.

A related report in the Financial Times said there is widespread concern that productivity gains could evaporate when the new four-day week becomes permanent.

Author: FINANCIAL TIMES, BLOOMBERG, BBC, GUARDIAN

Source: Kathimerini

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