In Britain, it has been a success the short-week experiment made between June and December 2022. In particular, this practice consists of working 32 hours per week with no fall in wages for workers distributed in four days instead five. 61 UK companies and 2900 workers had agreed to try this new form of hours distribution. At the end of the trial time (six months), 56 businesses participants decided to continue this way of work organisation it’s a great data result that prove the effectiveness instead the minority 18 % preferred to come back to the classical Monday to Friday. of this system. This UK’s national campaign “4 Day Week” had been launched by 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit organisation, supported by Alex Ferry Foundation, Autonomy, New Economics Foundation, Women’s Budget Group, Class, and Compass.
One of the first States was Iceland which involved 66 workplaces and 2500 people between 2015 and 2019. Then, Spain and Portugal approved the short-week pilot projects. Scotland earmarked £10m for an experimental program too. In Belgium, a proposal has been made to allow the choice between four or five days with the same salary, within a reform that also establishes the right to turn off electronic devices and don’t reply to communications outside of working hours. In 2021, even Japan added to the Annual Economic Plan this innovative working way. Thoughts about four days week started to arrive in Italy too: Intesa Sanpaolo, Magister Group, and Lavazza are the companies who decided to test it.
Will 2023 be the right time for which this switch becomes a reality? The timing is finally right. The old model is the same for many years, now is the time to be updated to a brand-new organisation's adaptive modern lifestyle. To be precise it is not an invention but it was present in American factories during Harrison Ford's times in the nineteenth so it would be a rediscovery from the past. If Japan, the realm of workaholic, serious, and disciplined work, wins points for the solution "work all, work less" we should consider that too. A paradigmatic case is that of Microsoft Japan: the company has decided to shorten the working week with surprising results. Productivity has shot up by 40 percent and worker satisfaction has almost doubled (+92 percent).
The Reduction Of Costs
According to Day Week Global research, commuting time falls by an average of half an hour per person per week. For businesses, the lower presence in the workplace would lead to a significant reduction of the carbon footprint, commuting, and energy usage, as well as enable more sustainable lifestyle changes among the workforce outside of work. This would increase the possibility of the final balance being equal or in any case leading to the investment of that money in improving the working environment by doing surveys to your employees to know better how they feel satisfied and if some issues need to be discussed.
Work Less, Gain More
A wide range of organisations in a variety of fields all over the world have been extremely satisfied with their companies’ productivity when piloting a 4-day week, and this feeling is not changed once their trials conclude: 91% opt to continue. Workers improved their well-being and this has a great impact on productivity: the less time you have to finish the tasks, the more concentration you have on them, differently on what generally we are led to think. According to a Cambridge University study, 71 % of employees' level of burnout has decreased and 39% are less stressed out than at the start of the experiment. 39% of workers are less stressful than usual leading to growing income. The level of anxiety and strain have diminished as well as sleeping issues. Improved well-being leads to better results and concentration on tasks. Not only that: this direction might get people to be resources and not a mere tools at the service of firms. It might be the occasion for the creation of a more efficient, empowered, and stimulant workforce focused not only on organisational priorities and outputs but also on the people who are in it. 'Employees report feeling more productive and better able to do their jobs', with 55% registering a raise in their ability at work.
Less Injury, Sickness, And Leavings
As regards the number of sick days found, it fell to 65% while the people who decided to resign registered at 57% compared to the same period in the previous year. Fortunately, the reduction also concerned requests for leave to take time off from work and was equal to 65 %, going from an average of two to 0.7 days per month per employee.
Balance Life-Work
An interesting albeit minor figure is the declaration of 15 % of the employees interviewed that they are willing to receive a lower salary rather than return to the five-day work week. Four working days allow people to focus more on spending time with family, social relationships, and hobbies. The majority of those people who have already experimented with this form, still being tested by public opinion and not yet considered for all its potential, have declared that they prefer to dedicate Friday as a day of errands or to go shopping and sort out chores and then enjoy the weekend to relax and spend quality free time. A compromise to go back to truly living to travel, to discover new interests, and to conceive the world of work as a more restricted healthy space in terms of time but one could rather focus on an increase in efficiency in the sense of not so much the amount of work but rather the quality that leads to better results in the long run.
The Shadow Of Short Work Week
With the acknowledge that most types of work can apply but not all! Let me say that it is not fair. it’s not universal but adaptable for some only. For example, hospitals, teaching, and educational sectors must be left out because the service is always there, and any modification can affect the operativeness. Moreover, for those who are suitable the working day will be more long arriving to eight hours.
Before the start of the trial, there were two months of preparation for participants, with workshops and mentoring based on the experience of companies already on a shorter working week. Moreover, the Cambridge team conducted a large number of extensive interviews with employees and company CEOs before, during, and after the six-month trial.
Okay, that working permits humans to survive “working for a living” but if there’s a way to improve the way we already do why not go for it? The benefits go beyond the doubts and concerns, and it gives back people the time lost in extraordinary hours. The more you work the more you gain it’s true but there’s also an appealing alternative to unlimited home working. Covid-19 lockdown periods have revolutionised the conception of work unlimited in smart working. Being always available is a lot to carry on because you are not excuses for deadlines and maybe the bosses might pretend more. Chalk up due to the pandemic situation under lockdown, stress levels and burnout skyrocketed among workers straining to keep up with their jobs at the same time balancing the raised domestic life demands, and helped fuel both workplace frustration inefficiencies and, in some sectors, mass resignations. This change, of course, is a good response to adaptation to employees in contemporary society, it is still a pilot which is highly suggested for a trial to see if it a match similar money-back guarantee. It’s not a wasting time in any case it’s a test of opening or closure, in or out.
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