The four-day week debate is winning over UK bosses, data suggests. Two hundred companies have adopted a four-day working week (4DWW) so far, the campaign group, the 4 Day Week Foundation, has revealed today.
As reported by The Guardian, the companies represent a range of sectors, with marketing and tech leading the way. Collectively, they represent more than 5,000 UK employees, each of whom now has a three-day weekend. And more Brits could be joining them this year.
The update is the latest sign that the 4DWW movement is gaining momentum. At the end of last year, Startups surveyed 531 SMEs about their plans for 2025. 13% told us they wanted to adopt a four-day week this year, an uplift of 1 percentage point from last year’s figures.
Who is adopting a four-day week?
For over a century the five-day workweek has been considered the cultural norm in the UK. But over the past few years, support has been quietly growing for the 4DWW as an alternative shift pattern that allows for greater work-life balance.
The 4 Day Week Foundation reports that all 200 firms have signed up for the ‘gold-standard’ four-day week, where full-time workers earn the same as if they work a five-day week, with an extra day off. Leading the charge is London, where 29% of adopters are based.
Variants of the 4DWW exist, however. Firms such as Asda, for example, have tested staff working their same hours over four days instead of five. In Startups’ survey, 4% of UK SMEs told us they had adopted some form of a four-day week so far.
Of the 13% of businesses that told us they planned to introduce a four-day week this year, the majority had fewer than 10 employees, suggesting that the policy may work better in smaller teams where skills and knowledge can be more evenly distributed.
However, plenty of large employers have managed to successfully implement the employee benefit. That includes Atom Bank, a large business with a team of over 540 workers.
Will a 4DWW fix the productivity crisis?
Supporters of the four-day week point to the positive impact it has on staff morale. With a three-day weekend, employees have more time to recover from a stressful week. As the policy has grown in popularity, it’s also become a useful tool for attracting new talent.
It’s not all just for workers’ sake, however. Findings from the UK’s largest four-day week trial suggest it could positively impact productivity in the workplace.
Doing so would fix a big headache for bosses. Due partly to a rise in the number of people unable to work due to ill health, worker output is on the decline.
The UK government has previously suggested that flexible working policies, designed to reduce burnout, could be a solution to the culture of “presenteeism” that has taken hold.
Our data supports this theory. 47% of companies that worked a four-day week told us that they felt it and other flexible working policies contributed positively to company productivity.
Can employers stop worrying and love the four-day week?
Over 200 companies have already been swayed by arguments for the four-day week and there are clear incentives for both sides of the boardroom table. But the UK’s dreary economic outlook means plans to adopt a four-day week this year could still be rained off.
Last November, the UK’s second-largest four-day week trial went underway. Run by the 4 Day Week Campaign and consultancy firm Timewise, the pilot saw 21 organisations with roughly 1,000 employees switch to a 4DWW for six months, ending next May.
Bosses debating whether to roll out the policy in 2025 should keep a close eye on this trial to evaluate its success. If the same positive results from the first pilot can be replicated, the benefits of a four-day week for businesses will be even harder to ignore.
