The Results are in!
In case you didn’t know… 3,000 employees in the UK enjoyed a pilot program of the 4-day work week.
As you may have expected, the experiment was a miraculous success.
It made their lives so much better.
Workers expressed benefits such as improved sleep, stress levels, personal lives, and mental health.
And here’s the kicker: Revenue increased by 35 percent on average when compared to the previous 6-month period.
Additionally and not surprisingly, resignations decreased.
Due to the resounding success of the program, the majority of the companies who participated in the test said that they will never return to a 5-day work week.
Many of the employees who participated said that no amount of money could ever convince them to return to the 5 day work week.
Let’s discuss some of the extra benefits now.
Child Care
Participants in the study were far less likely to report that they did not have enough time in the week to take care of their children or dependents.
This is not dissimilar to the added benefits of remote work. By the way, remote work benefits are currently fighting for their life against greedy CEOs and their push to return to the office.
Life Satisfaction
A four-day workweek allows workers to spend more time on their hobbies and in the presence of their loved ones.
It’s not that deep.
In the modern era, a person’s career has little to no meaningful impact on the world, and their life satisfaction can only be fulfilled through purposeful pursuits.
Through a four-day workweek, workers gain time for hobbies, volunteering, creative outlets, and more.
Freedom
The plain and simple truth of it is that a four-day workweek gives people more freedom over their lives. It’s a whole extra day, every week of your life that you OWN.
If you really think about it, when you go to work in the office, you don’t own your time. Your employer owns your time.
Climate Health
Imagine millions of people no longer commuting for an entire day every week of the year. The amount of money saved on gas, and the amount of gas that is not pumped into the atmosphere.
Data from the US Department of Energy shows that people burn 10% less fossil fuels on the weekends.
So Why Don’t Employers Switch to a Four-Day Workweek?
If revenue increases and employees have an improved quality of life, then why don’t employers everywhere rejoice and switch over to the four-day work model?
It’s similar to the reason they have for forcing workers to return to office. The answer is that they want to control their employees’ lives and make it more difficult for them to find alternate employment.
You see, when workers have more freedom, they have a greater ability to shop around at competitors which can result in increased salaries. Not only that, but they will be less willing to stick around when treated poorly.
Remember the saying, “The best employee is the one who can’t afford to quit”.
The modern world of work is changing. People are getting sick and tired of devoting their life to a company that does not value them and will fire them at a moment’s notice.
The recent corporate layoffs have forever changed a generation of workers.
The Implications of a 4 day work week
The astounding success of this study once again put the spotlight back on the 4-day work week. This could be the next step forward in modern work and labor rights.
Don’t expect it to be easy and don’t expect it to come fast, but the four-day workweek will arrive sooner rather than later.
Similar trials are being measured around the globe, including one in California. In 2021, Mark Takano, a democratic representative introduced a four-day workweek bill that would force overtime pay for any work beyond 32 hours. Since then, not much progress has been made.
Resources for Your 4 day work week
Would you believe that there is already a start-up working on sourcing jobs for employers who promote four-day work weeks?
Well, there is! So if you are interested, Sign up for our newsletter where we give weekly alerts for jobs that only require 4 days of work per week.