Have you ever wished you had a three-day weekly vacation? If yes, the world's largest trial in this regard is underway in the UK.
A 4-day business week trial began in the UK in June 2022 and preliminary results are now available.
A survey was conducted among the companies involved in this trial by an organization called Gartner.
In the survey, 78 percent of executives from more than 70 British companies said the transition to a 4-day business week was good, while only 2 percent described it as difficult.
88% of the executives said that the 4-day business experience was going well.
More than 180 companies in 6 countries are working on pilot programs of the 4-day work week, where employees' working hours are limited to 32 hours.
3300 employees involved in the ongoing pilot program in the United Kingdom were made part of the survey.
In the UK, the program was launched by the 4 Day Week Global Campaign, a think tank called Autonomy, in collaboration with Boston College, Cambridge University and Oxford University.
86 percent of companies participating in the pilot program said they would prefer to maintain the 4-day schedule after the trial ends in November.
About 49 percent of companies said the program improved people's productivity.
Joe O'Connor, CEO of 4DayWeek Global, said, "If the construction capacity stays in place, it will be a great achievement in our view."
Under this organization, 4-day business week pilot programs are being worked on in UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Canada.
Joe O'Connor said that not all companies involved in the trial completed it, and one in five companies dropped out of the program in the early stages.
He said that the main reason for the separation of the companies was overthinking, trying to solve all possible problems before the trial started, which was impossible.
He added that lack of trust between officials and employees in some places also led to separation from the trial.
Joe O'Connor said that companies needed us in the early stages, but when they started contacting us less and less, it meant they were making positive progress.
