The global trend toward a four-day workweek has accelerated in response to shifting work cultures and heightened interest in work-life balance, with notable implementation in regions such as the UAE, UK, US, India, and limited trials in China and Russia.

Large-scale pilots, particularly in the UK, demonstrate multiple benefits: businesses report cost savings and an average productivity increase of 22%, while employees experience substantially less stress and improved wellbeing.

Improved hiring, retention, job satisfaction, and work-life balance are constant findings, with positive effects on both physical and mental health.

Gender equity gains have also been observed as men take on more domestic responsibilities and women report greater wellbeing improvements.

Despite these positives, significant barriers exist.

Employers worry about meeting customer demands, managing operational complexity, and incurring extra costs—especially in service industries, healthcare, manufacturing, and education—where continuous coverage is mandatory.

Equity issues persist, as blue-collar, low-wage, or essential workers may be unable to benefit due to job structure, risking labor market fragmentation.

There are also concerns about wage stagnation and possible negative impacts on tax revenues and business output if productivity gains do not offset reduced hours.

Sectoral differences are pronounced: knowledge-based and tech firms adapt more easily, whereas operationally diverse or client-driven businesses face logistical hurdles.

Effective adoption requires clear expectations, communication, flexible scheduling, and participatory implementation designs.

Thus, while the four-day workweek shows strong promise for productivity and well-being, widespread adoption depends on sector, workplace equity, and careful management across diverse economic contexts.

The global trend toward a four-day workweek has accelerated in response to shifting work cultures and heightened interest in work-life balance, with notable implementation in regions such as the UAE, UK, US, India, and limited trials in China and Russia.

Title:

Content: Europe

Majority of employers in India favour four day workweek: Report

With quite a few corporations internationally proposing 4-day
workweek for workers, a report has revealed {that a} majority of
employers in India strongly agree that this mannequin will assist in
decreasing stress degree, Trend experiences citing The Tribune.

Over 60 per cent of the employers strongly agree that the brand new
4-day workweek mannequin might be profitable in uplifting the general
morale of the organisation with job satisfaction and work-life
stability, serving to to cut back stress and nervousness ranges, a report by
HR Solutions Genius Consultants mentioned.

However, 27 per cent of the employers who participated within the
survey mentioned they weren’t certain of its implications on
organisations’ productiveness.

The remaining 11 per cent disagreed with the notion, arguing
that the 4-day work mannequin would neither enhance nor yield any
drastic optimistic outcomes, it mentioned.

The report is predicated on a survey performed on-line amongst 1,113
employers and workers between February 1 and March 7 throughout
sectors, together with banking and finance, building and
engineering, schooling, FMCG, hospitality, HR options, IT, ITES
and BPO, logistics, manufacturing, media, oil and fuel.

The survey discovered that 100 per cent workers are in favour of
the 4-day workweek mannequin.

Further, when employers have been requested if they’re keen to work
past 12 hours to compensate for an additional break day, over 56 per
cent agreed immediately, whereas the remaining 44 per cent of the
respondents weren’t satisfied about stretching their standard working
hours.

Similarly, 60 per cent workers within the survey mentioned they’re
keen to work greater than 12 hours in alternate for one more weekly
off.

Over 66 per cent of respondents strongly believed that the 4-day
week module will assist them enhance their productiveness ranges, the
report mentioned.

The survey additionally revealed that for employers, essentially the most most well-liked
third break day is Friday (52 per cent), adopted by Monday (18 per
cent), Wednesday (18 per cent) and Thursday (11 per cent).

“The new 4-day workweek module has been fairly an attention-grabbing
development that has been more and more adopted by fairly a couple of international locations
and organisations from a standalone perspective. People have been
praising the module for serving to workers handle each their
private and work lives higher. Some really feel the 4-day week mannequin has
enabled them to push their boundaries, contribute and carry out
higher,” mentioned R P Yadav, Genius Consultants CMD.

The module has piqued quite a lot of curiosity and has made few
organisations marvel if they need to take into account adopting the identical for
their firm construction, he added.

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Large-scale pilots, particularly in the UK, demonstrate multiple benefits: businesses report cost savings and an average productivity increase of 22%, while employees experience substantially less stress and improved wellbeing.

Title:

Content: [Retain talent] Enterprise test 4 days a week production efficiency improvement of employees: work pressure reduction and health improvement
Stock Market 07: 41 2023 / 02 / 22
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[Retain talent] Enterprise test 4 days a week production efficiency improvement
Do you want to work four days a week?
According to the Wall Street Journal, most of the British companies participating in the four-day work week test said that after six months of testing, the staff turnover rate and absenteeism rate fell sharply, which is the largest four-day work week test to date. 61 companies, including banks, fast food restaurants, marketing consultants, etc., involved 2900 employees. Eighteen companies said they would permanently implement the four-day workweek.
For decades, the market has been exploring the idea of working less than five days a week, or 40 hours a week, which has become a new opportunity under the pandemic, as home-based and mixed-work arrangements have become more widely accepted, and employers have also taken the opportunity to explore whether shortening work hours can improve employee happiness and loyalty.
Working days have become a retention and recruitment issue
Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College, said that it was initially due to the mental fatigue of wage earners during the epidemic, but it has now become a retention and recruitment problem.
Her team has helped conduct research around the world on a four-day workweek, including researchers from the UK think tank Autonomy and the University of Cambridge.
The research is being conducted around the world. Small tests in the United States and Canada are being led by research institutes in the United Kingdom, and similar tests are being conducted in Australia and Brazil. Unilever, an internationally renowned consumer goods company, is also participating in the tests.
Testing in Iceland, involving more than 2,500 employees in various industries, researchers found that most employees maintained or increased productivity, as well as reduced work stress.
Most companies that try 4-day work are small employers
Since most of the companies experimenting with four-day work are small employers, many large companies have yet to embrace the concept.
In the test, some employees reported that it was difficult to complete all the work during this time.
In a study conducted in the UK from June to November, most employees did not increase their work intensity, but bosses held fewer meetings to give employees more time to get their work done.
Finally, employers rated employee productivity and performance on an average of 7.5 on a scale from 0 (very negative) to 10 (very positive), and at half of the test, 46% of companies said their business productivity remained unchanged, while 34% reported a slight improvement and 15% reported a significant improvement.
20% of your time is wasted on unnecessary meetings
On the other hand, 39% of employees reported less stress at work, but half of employees reported no change in their index.
Nearly half of employees reported improved mental health and 37% reported improved physical health.
Claire Daniels, CEO of Trio Media, a digital marketing company with 13 employees in the UK, said she took part in the trial to see if she could improve productivity.
Before the test began, she analyzed with employees that 20% of their time was wasted on unnecessary meetings, business trips, and other inefficiencies.
"Very soon, we will know that we do not have to do any extra work in these four days," she said.
The productivity of the 4-day work was flat or slightly improved from the same period last year
Daniels pointed out that she would have employees work from Monday to Thursday, and Tuesday to Friday, and have employees take extra places to follow up on their colleagues ’ work during the holidays.
No longer do marathon daily team meetings with employees, in longer meetings involving customers and multiple presentations, employees will only attend part of the meeting based on necessity and then leave.
The hardest part, she says, is for employees to make sure they don ’ t go back to their old work mindset or habits. Overall, productivity was flat or slightly higher compared to the same period last year, with revenue up 47%.
She wants to continue experimenting for another six months before making a permanent change, “but I don ’ t think we ’ re going to go back to the typical five-day week. ”
If the four-day work week can improve production efficiency and the employees are happy, the bosses think that they can give it a try, or they think that the workload of five days can be completed in four days, so that the employees can continue to overcomplete their work on the fifth day.
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Improved hiring, retention, job satisfaction, and work-life balance are constant findings, with positive effects on both physical and mental health.

Title:

Content: Ina Opperman
Business Journalist
3 minute read
26 Feb 2023
10:00 am

Largest 4-day week trial results good news for future of work

Ina Opperman

Will a 4-day workweek work? It seems that employees and employers are happy.

The results of the world’s largest 4-day week trial is good news for the future of work, with new research showing that these results are largely in line with existing global evidence, further demonstrating the benefits of reduced-hour, output-focused working.

The pilot programme conducted in the UK by non-profit 4 Day Week Global, the UK’s 4-Day Week Campaign and think tank Autonomy, guided over 60 companies and almost 3 000 workers through a six-month trial of a 4-day week, with no loss of pay for workers.

This brings the global campaign’s total number of completed pilot participants to 91 companies and approximately 3 500 employees. Lead researcher, professor Juliet Schor of Boston College, says overall results show that almost every organisation will stick to a 4-day week after the trial, with 91% definitely continuing or planning to continue and another 4% leaning towards continuing. Only 4% of participants are definitely not continuing.

Participating companies rated their overall experience of the trials at an average of 8.5/10, with business productivity and business performance each scoring 7.5/10. Revenue increased by 35% over the trial periods when compared to similar periods from the previous year, while hiring increased and absenteeism decreased.

ALSO READ: 28 SA companies to implement 4-day work week on 1 March

Improved employee wellbeing and health

During the trial it was also found that the health and wellbeing of employees also improved, with significant increases observed in physical and mental health, time spent exercising and overall life and job satisfaction. Rates of stress, burnout and fatigue all decreased along with problems with sleep.

Even the environmental outcomes were encouraging, with commuting time falling across the full sample by a half hour per week.

Schor says she observed an encouraging consistency in the data, with results 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 and manufacturing enjoyed the largest reductions in burnout and sleep problems.”

Behavioural scientist and new CEO of 4-Day Week Global, Dr Dale Whelehan, explained the sample produced interesting differences in gender outcomes. “While men and women benefit from a 4-day week, women’s experience is generally better for burnout, life and job satisfaction, mental health and reduced commuting time.”

ALSO READ: 4-day work week pilot so successful, all participating companies sticking to it

4-day workweek also balances home tasks

Encouragingly, the research also showed that the burden of non-work duties appears to be balancing out, with more men taking on a greater share of housework and childcare.

Co-founder and MD of 4-Day Week Global, Charlotte Lockhart, says her team is delighted to be expanding the arguments in favour of a 4-day week with this new world-class academic research. “We look forward to adding our Australasian pilot results to this data set in the coming weeks and our European, South African, Brazilian and North American results in the coming months.”

4-Day Week Global was founded in New Zealand by entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart, following the world-renowned success of their pioneering trial of the 4-day week in Perpetual Guardian.

Their approach is based on the 100-80-100™ model designed by Lockhart alongside the Perpetual Guardian trial in 2018. That means 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to deliver 100% of the output.

4-Day Week Global’s ambition is to make a 4-day week the new default and reduced working time the new standard.

What did  the trial of 4-day workwee in New Zealand show?

What did a survey on 4-day workweek conducted in Hong Kong show?

61% of respondents said employers could implement a four-day workweek to improve employees' mental health.

What did surveys conducted in London before and after the experiment of 4-day workweek  find?

54% of employees had better balance of work and home responsibilities

What has a Gallup Poll found out about the prospect of 4-day workweek?

77% of American employees believe that it will have a positive impact on their health

What has the implementation 4-day wrokweek in Dubai, UAE indicated?

Increase in employee and customer satisfaction.

Gender equity gains have also been observed as men take on more domestic responsibilities and women report greater wellbeing improvements.

Title:

Content: How about four days a week instead of five?
Here are the results of an exciting experiment involving 60 companies around the world.
More than 60 companies participated in the experiment, allowing around 3,000 employees to work one day less per week while retaining the same salary.
Rates of stress, burnout and fatigue all fell, while problems with sleep declined, the study shows.
Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
MAIN POINTS
• The study found that more than 9 out of 10 companies will continue to shorten the work week or plan to do so
• Productivity was not affected by lighter work weeks, with the company ’ s revenue increasing by an average of 1.4 per cent over the trial period
The study also found that employment increased and absenteeism decreased.
A four-day workweek is more productive for most employees and businesses than the traditional five-day workweek, and is one of the largest trials ever conducted in the UK.
More than 60 companies in the UK participated in the trial over a six-month period, allowing around 3,000 employees to work one day less per week while retaining the same salary.
The trial was conducted between June and December and was organized by a nonprofit group called 4 Day Week Global in collaboration with the Autonomy Research Center, the University of Cambridge, and Boston College in the United States.
The experience is described as the largest in the world around working four days a week.
The survey released on Tuesday found that more than nine out of 10 companies would continue to adopt or plan to do so, while only 4 percent chose not to extend it, regulators said in a statement.
Juliette Shore, a professor at Boston College, said: “The results are largely the same across workplaces of all sizes, demonstrating that this innovation has proven to be effective in many diverse organizations.
Productivity was not affected by shorter working days, with the company ’ s revenue increasing by an average of 1.4% over the trial period.
Revenue jumped 35% on average when compared to similar periods in previous years.
The study also found that employment increased and absenteeism decreased, while the number of resignations dropped sharply during the trial.
In addition, the researchers concluded that overall health and staff well-being improved.
"Significant" increases were also observed in physical and mental health, time spent on exercise, public life and job satisfaction.
Stress, fatigue and fatigue rates have decreased, while sleep problems have decreased.
"Really positive."
Cambridge University professor Brendan Burchell told AFP: “In terms of employees, their mental health improved, they slept better, and they became less stressed.
“But at the same time, companies have stated that if there are changes in their profits or in their performance, they are more likely to go up rather than down. ”
“A lot of people were very happy, people really enjoyed it; and they found it good to have three-day weekends instead of two days. ”
Environmental consultancy Tyler Grange in the UK was among 18 companies that decided to permanently adopt a four-day work week after participating in the trial.
Nathan Jenkinson, customer manager at Tyler Grange, told AFP: “My experience has been really positive, you can see it in people ’ s work and they ’ re more active.
“Employees come to work at the beginning of the week on Monday, after three days off, feel more positive about work and have a lot of energy. ”
Tyler Grange said performance improved slightly despite reduced working hours.
In recent years, studies of the four-day workweek have spread globally as employers explore the nature of post-pandemic work, including the concept of a co-working place that allows more work from home.
Short-week experiments were conducted across Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
However, when asked whether the UK government might adopt the test as a national policy, Prime Minister ’ s spokesman Rishi Sonak sounded cautious and stated, “There are no plans for that. ”
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Published at 22 / 02 / 2023 1: 59pm
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The subject.

Despite these positives, significant barriers exist.

Title:

Content: The four-day work week is welcome, but some challenges remain

This shift has thrown up interesting questions on macro and micro levels that over time will need answering

Beta V.1.0 - Powered by automated translation

The sin of presenteeism is shaping up as a pre-pandemic anachronism, and the principal reason for this is not just remote working but an emerging historic global shift towards a shorter working week.

The global headaches from supply constraints following Covid-19 disruption have overshadowed equally profound changes in the labour market. For some bosses, there is rationing not just of the number of workers but the time they are willing to work. As people reassess their work-life balance, responsible employers and some countries are looking at the advantages of compressed hours on the job.

The UAE is a trailblazer in this regard, with most emirates having formally adopted a 4.5-day working model. Sharjah has gone further by opting for a four-day model. Reporting last week in this newspaper found that its residents said they are healthier and happier, enjoying more weekend flexibility and having more time with their families.

Many forecasts over recent years have been very wide of the mark about the economic trajectory of the big developed economies. The Resolution Foundation, a UK-based think tank that looks at work, points out that in analysing the pandemic, “many feared a house price bust, expected the inflation spike to be small/short-lived, said unemployment/insolvencies for workers/firms respectively would surge and claimed this would be a ‘she-cession’. None happened”.

Technology is the driver of all this, and the trend may over time become irresistible

Analysis of Google searches in the UK from an employment agency recently reported the four-day work week had gained popularity among people on the hunt for their next job opportunity. “Google searches for "4 day week jobs" exploded a spectacular 1,011 per cent in early 2022, when compared to 2021,” according to the firm’s research.

One of Britain’s biggest and best-known corporate brands, the department store M&S, has hired a well-known female executive who is a prominent four-day week champion, Katie Bickerstaffe. She said her role was compatible with shorter hours, even though it is a round-the-clock operation.

“We’re a seven-days-a-week, 24-hour operation and that’s what you do, but I’ve always done that [four days] because it gives me the freedom to spend some downtime with my kids and not feel that I don’t have the opportunity to do that during the week,” she explained.

The news coincided with the announcement that 70 UK companies had voluntarily joined a scheme to alter the working week basis of their business. Signing on to a pledge to pay 100 per cent of wages for 80 per cent of the hours worked means much more than just creating new rotas. It means altering the internal working patterns of the business and finding new ways to accommodate latency in the workforce.

Not everyone is convinced this can deliver a kind of workplace nirvana.

The Centre for Policy Studies carried out some research last year that estimated that a four-day week would have a big cost to the economy if productivity levels remained constant. The annual shortfall to the economy would be £45 billion ($55.42bn). On more generous calculations, if a 6 per cent increase in productivity could be achieved in the first decade of the reform, the loss overall could be pared back to £17bn. The analyst behind the figures believes the evidence for productivity gains from compressing hours and having shorter working weeks is extremely limited.

That is not much of an argument for not experimenting with shorter weeks. Employees already job-share and expect work-from-home arrangements throughout the work force. In office-based roles or project work, the flexibility to complete the workload that comes with the job most obviously lends itself to working with a defined, shorter time frame.

There are hurdles for other jobs. Customer-facing roles or service functions will still need to be provided across a far longer time-frame than four days or 32 hours. Unlike in Sharjah, there is no clear directive in the UK for a common day that extends the weekend. Indeed, many people working four days chose a non-consecutive day, such as Wednesday, for the non-working option.

Without the government plumping for Friday as part of a three-day weekend, it is likely that businesses will experience co-ordination both internally and with clients and supplies if substantial numbers in the workforce are missing in action for part of the working week.

There are also concerns around the equality of the development. Can it be true that more flexibility would allow women, in particular, to better balance childcare obligations and thus erode the disadvantage with men?

And as the work-from-home phenomenon has shown, the higher-paid employees have snapped up the main benefits from structural changes in how people work. There is little to suppose that this trend would not emerge from the four-day week.

Technology is, of course, the driver of all this, and the trend may over time become irresistible.

Certainly, the difficulties of drawing an absolute boundary between the working day and your time revolve around the fact that your email is always in your pocket on the phone. That is double-edged. It would be difficult for employers to play another card: offering people four days’ pay, not the salaried five.

Published: June 13, 2022, 4:00 AM

What are the challenges of 4-day workweek?

To ensure employees didn't fall back into old work mindsets or habits.

What are the views that object 4-day workweek?

What challenges will the companies with diverse workforce have for implementing 4-day workweek??

Complicated to roll out for large companies

Lack of resouces to support shift for sall comppanies

What did Labor economist Jonathan Boys say about 4-day workweek?

Food and beverage industry may face more problems.

Education industriy may face more problems.

Employers worry about meeting customer demands, managing operational complexity, and incurring extra costs—especially in service industries, healthcare, manufacturing, and education—where continuous coverage is mandatory.

Title:

Content: Manager of an Estonian company about a four-day work week: experience shows that it is doable
Over time, more innovative ways of working begin to penetrate the Estonian work culture.
Today, the most attention is paid to the shortened working week: for example, a four-day working week or a six-hour working day.
These approaches seem exciting to many, but the fear that they will negatively affect the organization of work, often becomes an obstacle in their implementation in practice.
Elisa manager Joosep Põllumäe noted that while the fear of innovative working methods is understandable, with the right organizational culture, proper pre-planning and strong support systems, confusion resulting from overtraining can be avoided in most cases.
For example, a four-week workweek has been successfully tested twice in Elisa ’ s technology department, which has more than 200 employees.
From now on, it will become a permanent summer mode for IT teams.
“If in recent decades everyone has known that there are forty hours a week to do work, and you can ask for help from colleagues every day from nine to five, then one day off can be a real shock, ” he said.
You just need to know which problem areas to focus on. ”
According to Põllumäe, in order for the introduction of new ways of working to go as smoothly as possible, it is first of all important to focus on establishing clear rules of the game, clear communication and the most accurate measurements.
Expectations should converge
Working four days a week, one weekday is free for the employee.
However, the details associated with this basic thesis may vary from company to company.
Therefore, according to Põllumäe, it is important that all parties involved in the organization of work understand these details equally.
For example, you should establish whether the day off is completely free, or it will be a day of study, a day of concentration or something else.
It is also important to determine who can be disturbed on the fifth day and on what issues, what changes will be made to the organization of work in the remaining four days, so that the work continues to be carried out.
“Employees need to clearly understand what is expected of them and what means are at their disposal to achieve their goals – whether they can cancel meetings, refuse additional tasks, work more from home.
Similarly, employers need to understand what employees expect.
For example, if a four-day work week includes one completely free day, you need to understand that employees do not want to be covered with working letters on this day, ” Põllumäe said.
Work must be measurable
Since expectations of attainable results do not decrease when working hours are shortened, one of the secrets to the success of the new organization of work is clear measurements and a concrete understanding of when the work is done.
According to Põllumäe, the more abstract someone ’ s role or the wider the range of tasks, the more likely it is that some important topics will go unnoticed, or people will always feel that they have to do more, and therefore will not dare to take a day off.
“Employees usually want to exceed expectations.
Try to do as much as possible in five working days.
However, if the employer suddenly allows an employee to take a day off in the case of work performed, then without clear measurements, it is difficult for some employees to understand whether they have completed their tasks or not, - he explained. - That is why very clear measurements are important - thing X should be developed within a month, analysis Y should be completed within a quarter, no "ticket" should "hang" longer than Z days. "
The better people understand their expectations, the better they can plan their work and deliver results in less time.
Communication is important
Since no team or branch of a company operates in a vacuum, clear communication and listening to feedback are also critical to implementing innovative work practices.
For example, departments ordering work from the development department should understand that one day a week from the development department should not wait for answers.
The sales team should know that marketing will not launch new ads on a certain day, and management should understand that one day a week should not expect quick reports from employees.
“If everyone knows how others work, they adjust their work accordingly.
Knowing that the data sphere teams are not working on Friday, the necessary data will be requested on Thursday, he explained. – It is also important to ask for constant feedback – if it begins to seem that the absence of someone from the team is causing real damage to the business, or customers begin to feel their absence, something needs to be adjusted, for example, to change the day when they are absent, or alternate absent employees to always provide some cover. ”
Key words
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What are the views that object 4-day workweek?

It may lead to a large increase in labor costs

What did Labor economist Jonathan Boys say about 4-day workweek?

Healthcare industry may face more problems.

Education industriy may face more problems.

Equity issues persist, as blue-collar, low-wage, or essential workers may be unable to benefit due to job structure, risking labor market fragmentation.

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The majority (81%) of Russian companies support the idea of reducing the working week to four days, while only 4% consider this possibility in the coming years, according to a study by hh.ru (Izvestia).
The main advantage of the four-day plan is the reduction of burnout among employees, the main drawback is the need to cut wages.
Today, business in Russia is not ready for such changes due to the insufficiently stable economy, experts say.
Nothing interferes
The reduction of the working week, advocated by 81% of employers, mainly supports large business.
However, the transition to such a schedule in the next three years is considered by only 4% of companies.
Even fewer are already working in a reduced week - this was told by 1% of companies with less than 50 and more than 3 thousand employees.
Such results were shown by a survey of the HeadHunter service, conducted in May among almost 700 enterprises at the request of Izvestia.
Economically, a shortened working week means a more flexible approach to the formation of a wage fund and increasing employee loyalty.
In the operational business, as well as the entire economy, continues to be under the influence of deep transformational processes caused by external circumstances.
Companies are not yet ready for another factor of possible tension in unstable current conditions, - explained the main expert on the labor market hh.ru Natalia Danina.
Photo: Getty Images / Matthias Kulka
The main advantages in the transition to a four-day period were the reduction of burnout of employees and more efficient use of working time.
In turn, the main disadvantage is the need to reduce wages for employees.
Among the risks, they also noted a reduction in productivity and bureaucratic difficulties.
Reducing the working week can favorably contribute to the development of the company, said the Director of personnel and organizational development of the service "Rabota.ru" Julia Sanina.
For example, the productivity of employees can increase by increasing their free time.
However, it is possible that the business will need additional staff to ensure continuous operation, and this, in turn, additional costs, the expert noted.
According to Article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, normal working hours cannot exceed 40 hours per week.
That is, now nothing in the regulatory field does not prevent to switch to a four-day, having organized a shift schedule, said the head of the expert center for labor relations and labor protection of Business Russia, co-founder of the SRG group of companies Vitaly Fedin.
It is worth noting that in recent years there has been a trend of actual increase in working hours.
The corporate culture of Russian business often suggests that employees in offices significantly recycle and the schedule is stretched to 45-50 hours per week, the expert added.
Photo: Getty Images / Thomas Barwick
The four-day work week is something to strive for in the near future, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, told reporters in January 2022.
He added that it is necessary to make such a decision as the economic prerequisites mature, for individual industries and industries, and based on the general economic situation in the country.
Earlier it was reported that Kazakhstan is going to introduce a four-day period from July 1 of this year.
Amendments to the Labor Code have already been approved by the President of the country.
A similar experiment was also conducted in the UK, Belgium and other EU countries.
“Izvestia ” sent a request to the Ministry of Labor.
Transition to three years
As a rule, the shortened week was previously introduced in developed countries to manage the unemployment rate or against the background of the formation of a structural shortage of personnel, said Natalia Danina from hh.ru.
This was also done to “cool ” production cycles in the absence of demand or transfer the creation of products to other countries.
Recent examples of the introduction of four-day experiments are typical mainly for large technology giants, she stressed.
The desire to balance work and personal life intensified during the pandemic, when a huge number of people had the opportunity to work remotely, said Aghvan Mikaelyan, a member of the Board of Directors of the audit and consulting network FinExpertiza.
— Today, the global transition to a four-day period would be difficult to implement.
This requires either a significant increase in productivity, or a reduction in wages, or an increase in the cost of production.
So, to reduce the working week to four days, that is, by 20%, provided that wages are maintained at the same level, a proportional increase in the productivity of all employees would be required, the expert explained.
Photo: Izvestia / Konstantin Kokoshkin
It is not difficult to switch to a four-day period, it is enough to fix it by law, says Alexander Isaevich, CEO of the SME Corporation.
According to him, it is important that this was an additional option, not an obligation, since Russian citizens are accustomed to a certain level of service and want to receive services all seven days a week, and sometimes even at night.
The expert added that in the matter of reducing the working week, everything depends on the business sector.
For example, there are areas with continuous work, such as security activities, production and others.
Russia today is not ready for the introduction of the four-day plan.
There are serious problems with the structure of the workforce.
Despite the low unemployment rates, a significant part of the employed work at fractional rates for low salaries, and the shortage of personnel is combined with the lack of vacancies in depressed territories and in a number of sectors, ” said Aghvan Mikaelyan.
At the beginning of the adaptation to the new schedule, productivity may temporarily subside, so the transition to a four-day in Russia should be gradual and consistent, taking into account the specifics of business sectors, said Dmitry Puchkov, Director for Development of the Avito Work Platform.
According to the expert, the process of transition to a four-day period in the country can take from one to three years.

There are also concerns about wage stagnation and possible negative impacts on tax revenues and business output if productivity gains do not offset reduced hours.

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Content: If you take three days off the week, the financial regulatory commission: 30 billion yuan of annual tax on securities
The Ministry of Labor held a research and discussion meeting on the 7th, and the representatives of the four parties of labor and government all agreed that although the general direction is good, the impact on the people 's situation, the shift system, the education system, wages and labor force at this stage is too big, "too early for Taiwan." Tax revenue will be reduced by $30 billion a year.
On the public policy network participation platform, more than 5,000 people jointly signed a proposal to “make Taiwan the first country in Asia to take a 3-day weekend off ” and“ amend Article 30 of the Labor Base Law to reduce working hours ”, and the government has to respond by June 26 and July 2.
Due to the wide range of involved, the Ministry of Labor invited 10 national labor groups, 7 management groups, 6 government scholars, the first line of local authorities, and including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of National Defense, Council of Agriculture, National Development, National Science Council, Financial Management Council, and other relevant units.
Director of the Department of Labor Conditions and Employment Equality of the Ministry of Labor, Huang Weichen, explained the meeting.
"The consensus between the employers and employees is very consistent, everyone believes that this direction is good, but now it is difficult to implement." Huang Weichen said that the management representatives believe that the implementation of the current situation in the industry will encounter some conditions, such as lack of work at the current stage, if the weekly working hours are further reduced, it will cause the problem of manpower shortage. However, this takes into account the differences between different industries and the nature of the work.
Labor representatives believe that small and medium-sized enterprises may increase costs, if the cost can not be passed on, it may reduce wages, which will actually affect labor wages.
In addition, the representative of the FSC said at the meeting that the average daily stock market turnover is about 200 billion yuan, if the weekend 2 becomes 3 days, the Securities and Exchange Commission will be less than 30 billion yuan in one year, and the current world countries do not officially implement the weekend 3 days, the national markets are linked, if Taiwan alone 3 days off, it will affect trading.
Three days off a week will also affect the school system, a representative of the Ministry of Education pointed out that due to the number of hours required for primary and secondary schools, "if you do not lengthen the daily class time, you must shorten the winter and summer vacation."

Sectoral differences are pronounced: knowledge-based and tech firms adapt more easily, whereas operationally diverse or client-driven businesses face logistical hurdles.

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Content: Interest in the four-day week has been on the rise in recent years with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the shift in how businesses organise their teams while employees are looking a6t how to achieve a better work life balance.

Currently, more than 3300 workers at 70 companies are working a four-day week with no loss of pay in the biggest ever four-day week pilot to take place anywhere in the world.

They are more than half way through the six-month trial, which started on June 6. It is based on the principle of the 100:80:100 model - 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.

Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, one of the organisations behind the campaign, said: “Companies should embrace the four-day week as a way of boosting productivity, improving wellbeing and to help with job retention. The 9-5, 5 day working week is outdated and no longer fit for purpose.”

At BusinessLive, we've been covering the trend for a number of years and for this article, we check in with firms from right across the UK to see how it's going.

From early adopters to businesses that have made the change in recent months, we find out how things are working out from both a business and employee perspective.

The responses are honest and explain the pros and cons.

We firmly believe the four-day week is the future of working life

Atom Bank

Durham

Challenger bank Atom last November became the largest UK business to move all employees to a four-day working week, with no change of salary.
The Durham business, which now has 480 staff, made the shift in recognition of people having longer working lives, the positive impact of technology, flexible working and the need to live and work more sustainably.
More than six months on, Atom has seen a noticeable positive impact that the shift has had on employees, customer service, and operations.

Anne-Marie Lister, chief people officer at Atom, said: “Over six months on from introducing our new four-day working week, it’s clear that it has been a huge success for our business and our people.
“People are rightly looking for a healthier work/life balance, and despite warnings from some sceptics, our metrics and people surveys show that this has not had a negative impact on employees or customer service. In fact, it has been the opposite, with happier, more efficient, and more productive people who are even more driven to help us change banking for the better.
“We firmly believe the four-day week is the future of working life and it is encouraging to now see the range of businesses across the UK embracing the four-day week trials."

One objective was to attract and retain talent more effectively and data reveals this has been a success, having seen a 500% surge in job applications following its launch.
Headcount has grown from 461 in November 2021 to 480 in June 2022, thanks also to a reduction in the number of departures. Atom said this has been vital, with the fight for talent becoming fiercely competitive following the widespread adoption of hybrid working following the pandemic.
Productivity levels have also been measured by each department, with metrics specific to each of the 10 departments. Data collated for the six months to April reveals that across all of the 165 departmental metrics tracked, the success rate has improved.
Employees are also more motivated working a four-day week too. Almost all (92%) report that they look forward to work, and there has been a 13% increase in people engagement between February 2022 and 12 months earlier. Days lost to sickness have also declined since the introduction of the new working structure, dropping from 100 in the month of November 2021, to 72 in June 2022.
Meanwhile, in terms of Atom’s impact on customer service, its Trust Pilot score has risen from 4.54 at the start of the new working structure to 4.82 in June.

What do Atom employees say?

As to how staff members use their time off, Paul, contact centre team leader, said: “I’ve been using my extra day off to do an advanced motorcyclist course so I can volunteer for Northumbria Blood Bikes as a rider, transporting blood from surgeries to hospitals.”
Jonathon, telephone business development manager, said: “The four-day working week has allowed me to spend some quality time with my three year old son Jack. Spending our time in the best soft plays & swimming pools Sunderland has to offer, before dropping him off & picking him up from nursery. Without this day off, I would rarely be able to have this quality time together during the week.”

In short, I’ve been a dad

Merthyr Valleys Homes

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Valley Homes adopted a 30-hour week in the four day working week pilot scheme without loss of pay.

Some staff member are working a four day week and some are working shorter hours over five days to ensure service provision over five days.

The biggest challenge for the firm has been finding ways to work differently while ensuring services aren’t impacted, however it has tried out new approaches during the pilot and says it has found “some very quick wins”.

A spokesperson said: “We have been working on how best to measure success and we are developing a number of new performance measures as a direct result of participating in the trial.”

A positive outcome has been the cooperation between teams and directorates.

“The conversations around how to work more efficiently have been really interesting and it has given everyone a reason to take the time to look at this collectively.”

The company has also seen support for the scheme from its stakeholders and the housing sector in Wales, and has attracted a wide range of candidates to apply for its job vacancies.

Of the advice it would give to other businesses thinking of moving to a four day week, the firm says: “Don’t be too prescriptive and set too many rules - our colleagues have been our greatest asset in designing their own solutions.”

The employee perspective

Ross Williams is the tenant engagement lead for Merthyr Valleys Homes.

The 42-year-old, who is married with 2 children, says the four day working week has hugely improved his work-life balance.

“I feel working 80% of the hours has increased my output. And I realise that a huge reason for this is because of what I choose to do with the other 20%,” he said.

During his non-working day on a Thursday, Mr Williams says he will fit in some early morning exercise or catch up with friends before picking up his 3-year-old son from nursery at 11am. He will also collect his daughter from school.

“In short, I’ve been a dad,” he said. “I’ve been guilty in the past of prioritising work over family and I’m determined to ensure this time remains a space where I get to enjoy some of the simple pleasures.”

During work hours, Mr Williams says the four day working week pilot has also provided some real work benefits and encouraged practical changes within the business.

In meetings, he says discussions are pertinent and decisions are reached “as quickly as possible saving time for myself and colleagues”.

He said: “I feel so much more productive knowing that my work is planned, my non-working day is factored in and my diary ensures my team can access me to ensure they are able to retain the same level of productivity,” he said.

“I think I am more productive, more focused and more content in my role. I have become much more well prepared for the time off that the four day week gives me.”

You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to five days

Marketing Signals

Altrincham

Marketing Signals, moved to a four-day working week in May with staff working 32-hours with no loss of pay.

When Managing Director Gareth Hoyle explained the reasons behind his decision on Linkedin, his post went viral and he was inundated with questions from other business bosses keen to do the same.

Mr Hoyle said he is excited to be part of a new model of work.

"It focuses on quality not quantity and will revolutionise the future of work. A good work/life balance is the key to a happy and healthy workforce which leads to loyalty, ultimately helping our business grow.

“My motto has always been ‘don’t live to work and don’t work to live’, and if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that it’s important we look after ourselves first. It’s important that my staff feel valued and understand life outside of work is just as important."

What do staff say?

Web developer and dad to a newborn Jack Darracott says that a shift to a four-day working week has transformed his life and made him more productive at work.

He works smarter, not harder, and the extra day off allows him to spend more time with his newborn son.

He said: “Since moving to the four-day working week, I’ve been able to spend more quality time with my son, and experience all of the first milestones that I would have missed out on had I been working a full week.”

The catalyst for the move to a four-day week came from the rise in cost of living, which led to Jack asking for a change in working hours due to rising childcare costs.

Jack explains: “The new model has also helped save money as I now don’t have to spend more of my wages on additional childcare fees. This is especially important with the rise in the cost of living. The extra day off also offers breathing room for any curve balls that life may throw at me.”

The four-day trial was met with some scepticism as many people questioned whether it would actually work. However, Jack says it has improved his productivity and efficiency, and that he even feels more energised when he’s back in.

Jack said: adds: “Not only has it helped with my home life, but my work has also improved. My day off serves as a ‘reset day’, so when I’m back in I can look at work with a fresh pair of eyes and I feel more refreshed.”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to five days.”

There have been a number of lessons along the way

Tyler Grange

London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter and Cirencester

The landscape planning, ecology and arboriculture consultancy became the first in its industry to sign up to the UK pilot in June. Its 80-strong nationwide team does not work Fridays with no loss of income.

The firm is reporting promising results producing the same amount of work so far during the pilot - from June to August – as it did in the same period last year. This is a measurement ratio of productive time versus direct costs, which means the company is, as planned, 100% productive in 80% of the time.

At the pilot’s halfway point, Simon Ursell, Managing Director at Tyler Grange, shares his seven key pieces of advice on how to make the transition from five to four as seamless – and successful - as possible.

Preparation is vital

I can’t stress enough how important it is to prepare for the switch from five working days to four. To enjoy a better work-life balance and to have more time to spend doing what we love. This just can’t be switched on overnight.

Talk to your clients and customers

The most common concern, of course, was ‘what if we need you on a Friday?’ but the vast majority congratulated us for showing such innovation, yet again, and are keen to be kept up to date on how it’s going.

Talk to your team and be ready to realise that a four-day working week isn’t for everyone

It’s essential to engage with your team but it’s also important to realise that working a four-day week isn’t for everyone.

Once the pilot began, and we became more accustomed to our new systems and way of working – which removed lots of lengthy admin and unnecessary meetings and reporting from our day - they soon got their heads around it.

Take different job roles and departments into consideration

Some of our work is very seasonal so, for those teams that are very busy during summertime, we’ve delayed the implementation of some new processes until the autumn.

You need to give people time to learn how to work differently – and it may not be the same for everyone.

If you’re looking to sell your business, a four-day week might not be for you

We used to receive a number of approaches by companies looking to buy us. But interesting, since trialling the four-day week, they’ve stopped.

So, for any potential owners who are sceptical that cutting hours could increase productivity, working a four-day week probably feels like too great a gamble to get locked into.

Bite the bullet and only have one company-wide day off

In some companies, the potential impact of the four-day week is being mitigated by covering all days but with reduced colleagues. We wouldn’t recommend this, despite it perhaps seeming to be an easier option at first.

It can sometimes be more intense and tiring

Most jobs are intense from time to time, and we know that working four days rather than five can exacerbate this on occasions. The adoption of our Alertness App – means we can get a real handle on any tiredness early and can react straight away.

Mr Ursell said: “I’d be surprised if we don’t adopt a permanent four-day working week post-pilot, but we still have three months to go.

“The UK has an unhealthy culture where it is seen as a badge of honour to be work all the time, the brilliant talent that we want to attract at all levels of the organisation - don’t want to be defined by a burnout life."

The worker's point of view

Helen Brittain, 54, is an administrator at Tyler Grange.

She lives with her husband, her son and daughter-in-law, and her two grandchildren - Henrietta, 5, and Florence, 7, - as well as their two dogs.

Helen said her productivity has improved enormously and the new working processes and systems encourage me help her to plan better.

She said: “In the past, work -life balance was always a bit of an issue for me. I felt like a two-day weekend didn’t enable me to enjoy enough of a homelife or to do necessary chores.

Now she is able to get on with chores and care for her grandchildren and find some time for herself.

She said: “I’ve also recently embarked on my own self-learning journey around mental health, as well as looking after my psychical health by working with a personal trainer and nutritionist.

“All of this is having enormous benefits on my personal health and wellbeing, which then has a real impact on my workplace performance and productivity.”

We're more productive and creative than ever before

Accu

Huddersfield

A Huddersfield-based tech-based firm that introduced a permanent four-day week to all 100 staff four months ago say the move has paid massive dividends.

Accu, which designs, manufactures and distributes engineering components worldwide, says it has seen a major boost in productivity, job applications, turnover, and orders from customers.

The firm's policy with no reduction in pay or obligation for staff to make the hours up.

From April-July, Accu has created 20 new jobs – a 25% increase in headcount. The number of applications per role has skyrocketed. One role, which previously got 40 applications, subsequently got 200 – a 400% increase. Similar numbers are being experienced across all vacancies.

Simultaneously, productivity is up, as the time it takes to respond to customer enquiries has improved by 46%. Order numbers and average values have increased by 15%, boosting turnover by 10% (quarter-on-quarter), meaning Accu is on track to hit £12m-plus turnover this year.

Company co-founder, Martin Ackroyd told YorkshireLive: "Giving people more personal time to enjoy the things they love has increased motivation, decreased the risk of burnout and has driven a renewed sense of purpose in our mission to help our customers build a better tomorrow. As a result, we're more productive and creative than ever before."

What do staff say?

Some staff have used their new spare time to pursue personal interests, such as home renovation and the arts, whilst others have used it to spend more time with their family or save on childcare costs.

Matt Ogden, community manager, said: "The longer weekends are very well received. With a longer break, it personally provides me with freedom to travel to London to enjoy and take part in the performing arts. In general, everyone feels more chilled, upbeat, happy, and refreshed.

"In terms of the business, we have seen a benefit across all areas – it was definitely a sound business decision."

Every Friday I enjoy not setting an alarm

Chilwell Products

Ilkeston, Derbyshire

Staff at the manufacturer of end bands for scaffold boards previously worked 39 hours over five days but this was reduced earlier this year by five hours, with all staff on duty Monday to Thursday.

Laura Clarke, managing director, said investment in new machinery improved overall capacity while giving back time to the team."

She said: "Initially, there were concerns around how our move would be received by customers but, when we ran our trial period, we managed to maintain lead times despite operating for five hours fewer.

"Many customers and suppliers have praised our move, even going as far to ask if they can have a job here.

She said the atmosphere at work had improved and there was something 'incredibly smug' about knowing you were halfway through the week on a Tuesday while team members had more autonomy over their lives and how they spent their free time, with some taking extra work elsewhere.

The hard numbers for the firm's manufacturing volumes and the first two financial quarters are positive despite the drop in hours.

She said: "I would advise others thinking of doing this to brainstorm, speak to various people within teams, gather information and look at the business from as many different angles as possible.

"It might not be something you can do in the next few months or even this year but you could start to make changes.

"Businesses need to think outside the box, we need to be innovative as we shape the working landscape moving forward."

How's work been?

Nicholas Wall is a 28-year-old toolroom assistant and press operator at Chilwell Products.

"It's nice to finish the working week on Thursday knowing you'll come in on Monday to a fresh slate.

"This also makes me feel like I'm giving something back to the company as I appreciate they've given us more time to spend however I want."

Nicholas said that, in previous roles with other employers, he felt he was rushing his evenings and weekends but had grown accustomed to it and had not noticed the effect this was having on him.

He added: "Only now that I'm more relaxed do I realise how frantic and pressured my personal life was.

"Every Friday I enjoy not setting an alarm, naturally waking up then heading to the gym to get a workout in and get it out the way."

It's not an easy process, but one we're proud we took the time to implement

City to Sea

Bristol

Bristol-based environmental organisation City to Sea has moved to a four-day working week without any reduction in pay for staff.

The community interest company employs 19 people, who are all now working a 32-hour week, but are being paid the same salary as when they worked for five days. The organisation, which campaigns to reduce plastic pollution, confirmed the move after running a four-day week trial over six months, and receiving positive feedback from staff. Now, every employee has Friday off.

Natalie Fee, chief executive and founder, said the top three challenges of implementing the four-day week were staff members feeling overstretched, managing work patterns and difficulties adjusting to reduced hours.

“We also found calculations around bank holidays and implications of those weeks being three days difficult to navigate,” she said.

However, she said the positives were staff motivation and increased wellbeing.

“It creates a much more balanced, healthier working environment and has resulted in increased staff engagement and staff retention. It's not an easy process, but one we're proud we took the time to test and implement.”

On the frontline

Steve Hynd, policy manager at City to Sea, who is 36 and is married with two children under five, says the move has been “completely transformative”.

“It’s not just the four days a week but also offering flexible working, having a really supportive line manager, and a host of other positive HR policies. This all combined is allowing me to spend more time with my two young kids, giving back to my community as a local district councillor and crucially (and very rarely) even having a bit of time for myself. It has removed the sense of being constantly over-stretched and has improved my mental and physical health significantly.”

Read more of our coverage on the four-day week:

What did Labor economist Jonathan Boys say about 4-day workweek?

Food and beverage industry may face more problems.

Education industriy may face more problems.

Effective adoption requires clear expectations, communication, flexible scheduling, and participatory implementation designs.

Thus, while the four-day workweek shows strong promise for productivity and well-being, widespread adoption depends on sector, workplace equity, and careful management across diverse economic contexts.

Title:

Content: Since June 1 this year, more than 3,000 employees from more than 60 companies in the United Kingdom have conducted a social experiment with a six-month “four-day work ”.
Since 2018, the non-profit organization of "4 Day Week Global" wants to test whether the public interest of "80% working time - 100% wages - 100% productivity" and "three days off a week, labor and management win" really exists.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak so far in 2020, many enterprises have adopted the method of “working from home, diverting work ”, and in the long process of the epidemic, working from home and working from home has become an emerging work style.
Since the end of the epidemic this year, many countries have returned to their original or new jobs, whether they are blue-collar and white-collar workers who have left or changed jobs.
However, in more than two years, the transformation of various workplaces in the enterprise to survive, and the labor compromise of "unpaid leave + retained work" have made more and more pioneer projects of "four days a week", and the industry category has become more and more diversified, becoming a new opportunity to promote.
Among them, the most representative is Iceland.
According to media reports in the middle of last year: “The three-day weekend experiment in Iceland has been a success, and workers ’ happiness and productivity have improved ”; the reason for this is:“ Employees face less workplace stress, anxiety, depression and exhaustion, and therefore work harder and take fewer sick days; workers feel more leisure time, and therefore are more committed to their work. ”
This conclusion, in addition to the ethical questions of the willingness of enterprises and workers to participate, and whether or not to remain anonymous, also requires the testing of more rigorous research methods, such as the length of the experiment, whether the industry type and size of the experiment is consistent, and the working tolerance of the workers involved in the experiment, are worthy of further investigation.
On the other hand, the three-day experiment, the success stories of Iceland, New Zealand, and British Columbia, Canada, did not clearly describe the type of industry, the development of the industry in each country, and whether the size of the enterprises in the industry varies greatly.
In addition, across all continents of the world, countries have different levels of economic development, industrial structures have their own characteristics, and the government originally conferred statutory labor rights and interests, are also different.
In addition to industries that are not suitable for at-home work, the sense of alienation of human relationships, the synergy of face-to-face communication, and whether innovation requires teamwork have become the focus of discussion.
On the front page of the “Four Days a Week Worldwide ” website, the home page shows where the current pioneer projects are located on every continent around the world. Surprisingly, Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia each launched at least five projects, but in Canada and the United States, there is only one pilot project.
Moreover, the website reveals that “working four days a week makes 78% of employees feel happier and less stressed. ”
It can also be seen that not only developed countries are promoting, in fact, more developing countries are also conducting experiments.
While there is a lack of a more convincing description of the experimental design, it is clear that this is indeed a possible new type of workplace.
Because of this, in addition to the pilot of national enterprises to cooperate with international non-profit organizations, there are also governments taking the lead in responding.
Spain ’ s leftist political party, once launched a “three days off ” policy in 2021, and the Spanish government agreed to test the new work system of“ 32 hours per week (8 hours per day) ” on a limited scale. 200 companies are willing to participate, and 3,000 to 6,000 workers benefit.
The result of such a trial gives more room for imagination to "take three days off every week, and employees will win both."
The social experiment of "80% of working hours - 100% of wages - 100% of productivity" has important policy significance for the harmony of labor relations and the long-term development of the economy.
"High working hours" does not mean "high productivity", which is the general consensus of the current society.
"Shorten working hours, wages unchanged", helps companies retain employees, perhaps without controversy; but whether it can also maintain 100% of the work output is questioned by the business community.
After the epidemic, "three days off a week, labor and management win" is applicable to some specific industry categories, and the nature of the work of individual employees may also be more widely distributed in various industries.
And the flexibility of working hours, the heterogeneity of the workplace, the universalization of work dispatch, and even the high expectations of the young generation for "enterprise decentralization" are all the help of "working four days a week", which may be a major challenge for enterprises in the future.
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