In June 2022, Four Day Week Global started a trial of more than 3,000 people working for 70 organisations, who agreed to work a shorter week (80% of the week) for six months with no loss of pay but with the commitment to maintain 100% productivity. The trial concluded in February 2023 and found that 92% of companies involved intended to continue using the new format.
With this in mind, GetApp - the UK’s leading B2B software comparison site - surveyed 1,047 UK SME employees, who primarily work at least five days a week using a computer, for their thoughts on a four-day working week.
The objective of the research was to “understand more about employee preferences and whether the introduction of flexible working practices could improve staff retention.”
GetApp also wanted to know whether this was known by and appealed to the UK workforce. In fact, 86% had heard of the system and its implementation in businesses in the country.
According to GetApp’s research, 85% of employees would want their company to implement the four-day working week and 74% would contemplate moving companies to achieve this - so long as the new role offered the same conditions, such as perks, salary and contract. Of those interested in the scheme, 94% said they would only accept a four-day schedule if their salary was unaffected - and of this group, 60% said they would accept the same hours per week but condensed into four days instead of five.
The results of the survey suggested that the majority of employers were not planning to implement a four-day week, even though over three-quarters of employees expressed some level of dissatisfaction in their current job - and 54% voted work-life balance as one of the most important factors in helping achieve job satisfaction. Additionally, an improved work-life balance and family time was voted by employees as the most significant advantage of a four-day week.
Even though 91% of employees who work flexibly say that flexible working hours are important to their current job and 83% who work strict daily hours would like more flexibility when organising working hours, 54% of SME employees state that their company hasn’t considered this four-day working practice an option.
David Jani, Content Analyst at GetApp UK, commented:
“Many of the employees in our sample showed great interest in the four-day working week and predicted positive impacts if it were implemented in their organisation. This reflected a broader trend amongst employees demonstrating preferences for more flexibility in terms of working hours and the ability to work from home or remotely.”
