In the 4 day week trial, employees enjoyed improved work-life balance, which was found to enhance overall work performance and efficiency for enterprises.
Taipei, Taiwan (Business Northeast) – Finding the right balance: how many days off for work and life? The results of the world’s largest 3-day weekly holiday survey have been released, and more than 90% of the companies participating in the experiment are willing to let employees continue to work 4 days a week. The research shows that 4 Day Week can increase the average annual revenue of enterprises by 35%, and the turnover rate of employees during the experiment period has dropped by 57%. Employees have more time to spend with their families, self-study, and engage in leisure activities, which in turn can improve overall work performance and efficiency.
The survey was led by UK-based nonprofit 4 Day Week Global, in collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Boston University, and the think tank Autonomy. The experimental period is from June to December 2022. A total of 61 British companies and about 2,900 employees participated, covering various types of industries such as banking, consulting, IT, fast food restaurants, and retail.
The main purpose of the experiment is to understand whether employees can achieve 100% output with 80% of the working time, while the salary remains unchanged. And they hope that in the future, there will be an opportunity to make the 3-day weekly rest, that is make work 4 days a week become a new normal. Under this new mode of reducing working hours, the production capacity of enterprises will not be reduced, but instead will be increased.
The report shows that 15% of companies find that employee productivity has improved significantly. 30% of the enterprises showed a slight increase in productivity. In terms of enterprise output value, after combining the data of all enterprises and weighting according to the company size, it is found that the average output value of the company has increased by 1.4%. Corporate revenue increased by 35% compared to the same period in previous years. Therefore, 92% of enterprises are willing to continue the working mode of 4 Day Week.
As for employees, after adjusting to working four days a week, 40% of employees feel less stressed, and more than 50% of employees are satisfied with the balance between rest time and work. More than 70% of the employees feel that the sense of burnout has been reduced and their fatigue, anxiety, and sleep quality have been improved. In addition to the sharp drop in the turnover rate, the daily life, sleep conditions, mental health, and family relationships of employees have been improved, and they have more time to participate in various social activities and cultivate interests.
According to the data released by the experimental results, only 3 companies decided to suspend the 4 Day week model, 2 companies are still in the consideration stage, and more than 90% of the companies choose to continue. Among them, 18 companies have decided to make it a permanent policy of the company, expecting to use this model to create a working environment where profits increase and employees are happy and healthy.
Under the influence of this positive result, neighboring Ireland and Scotland, as well as the United States, a major economic and trade country, will start experiments with a 3-day weekly holiday. Australia has even planned to draft relevant laws to move towards the goal of 4 Day Week.
In a state of high economic development, the prevalence of civilization diseases, and excessive working hours or overwork in some industries, if employers can understand the needs of employees under the condition of mutual benefit, they can give the flexibility to discuss and decide their work rights and modes. Maybe that could stabilize personnel and retain talents. It may be one of the ways to promote the sustainable development of enterprises.
