Over 200 UK Firms Embrace Four-Day Work Week With Full Pay
Increasing companies in the United Kingdom have officially made a change to a four-day week with no pay-with holding among their employees, as a radical shift in the nation’s work culture. By the current date, more than 200 companies with the total number of workers exceeding 5,000 have already ensured the commitment to this new form of labor.
The companies that have adopted shorter work weeks belong to a diverse group of industries, such as marketing, IT, consulting, and social care. The trend comes as a response to greater interest in more conventional work times and the need to offer more flexibility and mental health products.
Rise of the Four-Day Model
The trend has been picking up in the last couple of years with the 4 Day Week Campaign, which pursues the more reasonable approach toward life and work. Joe Ryle who is the director of the campaign opines that the five-day format is not in tune with the current lifestyle because it was formulated more than 100 years back when there was the industrial age. The foundation claims that the measure of productivity should be forwarded by outcomes rather than time consumption being seated behind a desk.
Ryle said, employers are coming to the realization that a happier worker is an efficient worker too. We are witnessing businesses to get more productive, fewer sick days, and increased staff retention.
Whether it is a car company or a fitness class, the companies in every industry now have to switch. There are some of the main industries which are represented in 200+ adopters:
- Marketing and PR – 30 companies
- Charities and Social Care – 29 companies
- Technology, IT, and Software – 24 companies
- Consulting and Business Services – 22 companies
Such enterprises have seen the transformation facilitate drawing in younger employees, maintenance of old and skilled hands and the general increase in team spirit.
Changing Workforce Expectations
Lynsey Carolan, the managing director of Spark, observed that change in expectations within the work place are changing significantly between generations. As Carolan points out, younger employees between 18-34 years of age that make up the future of the UK workforce are placing more emphasis on mental well-being and quality of life all at the expense of what have been the main pillars of the workplace benefits diet.
She declared, this generation is not planning to go back to the olden day routine. They care about their mental health, and employers have to adapt in order to remain competitive.
Long List of Early Adopters
The list of organizations which convert to the new model consists of both large companies and small ones. Some notable names include:
- 3D Issue
- 448 Studio
- 5 Squirrels Ltd
- 64 Million Artists
- 92 Minutes
- AKA Case Management
- AWO
- Accurise Ltd
- Acuity Solutions
- Advantage Business Partnerships
- Advice Cloud
- Advice Direct Scotland
- Agricultural Recruitment Specialists
- Alliance Publishing Trust
- Amity Community Action CIC
- Andy Matthews Studio
- Arts Marketing Association
- Ascendancy
- Atlas Translations
- Atom Bank
- Autonomy
- Awin
- BJP Consulting Group LTd
- Baker Consultants
- Barefoot Architects
- Barking and Dagenham Giving
- Bedrock Learning
- BiBO
- Big Potato Games
- Bimble Solar
- Blink
- Bookishly
- BrandPipe
- Brett Nicholls Associates
- British Society for Rheumatology
- Brook
- Butcher Bayley Architects
- CMG Technologies
- Camlas
- Causeway Irish Housing Association
- Centre for Local Economic Strategies
- Centre for Thriving Places Ltd
- Charity Bank
- Citizens Advice Gateshead
- City to Sea
- Civo
- Coltech Global
- Common Knowledge
- Cooked Illustrations
- Counting King Limited
- Crystallised
- DataLase
- DigiLab
- Digital Guerrilla Consultancy
- ESG Gaming
- Earth Science Partnership
- Elektra Lighting
- Element Four
- Elliott & Company Consulting Engineers
- Escape the City
- Esteem Training
- Evolved
- FLOCC
- FMC Talent
- Formedix
- Fortem People
- Forward Carers
- Forward Space
- Four Day Week Ltd
- Furness Insurance Services
- Future Economy Scotland
- Geeks For Social Change
- Giant Digital
- Girling Jones Ltd
- Global Partners Digital
- Good Ancestor Movement
- Gracefruit
- Greenpost
- Gungho Marketing
- Happy
- HearFocus
- Hello Heat Pumps
- Hello Starling
- Highfield Professional Solutions
- Hutch Games Ltd
- Independent Food Aid Network
- Infigo
- Intercultural Youth Scotland
- Interlink
- JMK Solicitors
- Jerba Campavans
- Kairos Women+
- Kinfolk Network CIC
- LEaF Translations
- LIT Communication
- LUX – The Food & Drink Agency
- Legacy Events
- Lemongrass Marketing LTD
- Literal Humans
- LoveGunn
- MATS Consultancy
- MRL
- Maggie Chapman MSP
- Marketing Signals
- Melville Housing Association
- Middle Child Theatre
- Middleton Co-operating
- Mox
- Muckle Media
- Mutual
- MycoPunks
- NEON
- Native Ecology
- Neonhive
- New Vision Digital Marketing
- Noteworthy Support Limited
- Opportunity Green
- Oriel Square
- Original Consultants Ltd
- Ormiston Wire Ltd
- PR Dispatch
- PTHR
- Pale Fox Escorts
- Paul David Smith Photography
- Paul Morgan & Associates Wealth
- Peak PEO
- Pollard Media Ltd
- Pool
- Portcullis Legals
- Poteris
- Pressure Drop
- Principles Agency
- Punch Creative
- PureFluent
- Quality of Life Foundation
- Queercircle
- Reboot
- Red Giraffe
- Resilience Brokers
- Reward Agency
- Richard John Andrews Ltd
- SEOMG!
- SQS
- STC Expeditions
- STOP AIDS
- Safer Fostering
- Schuco
- Scotland’s International Development Alliance
- Scottish Community Safety Network
- Scottish Greens
- Secure Digital Exchange Limited
- Sensat
- Shout Loud Social
- Sidequest Ltd
- Sinister Fish Games
- Social Enterprise Direct
- Social for Good
- Softer Success
- Sounds Like These
- Split Banana
- Stagecast
- StreamGO
- Synergy Vision
- T-Cup Studios
- TBL Services LTD
- Tailored Thinking
- Talewind
- Target Composites Ltd
- Target Publishing
- Team Custard Kraken
- Technoevent
- The Agile Communications Agency
- The Beacon
- The Circle
- The UPAC Group
- The Young Women’s Movement
- Think Productive
- This Is Beyond
- Thryve
- Time Appointments
- Tribera
- Trigger
- Tyler Grange Group Ltd
- Uniqodo
- Vault City Brewing
- Venture Stream
- Vetro Recruitment
- Villainous Games Studio
- Waterwise
- We Are Purposeful
- Wellbeing Economy Alliance
- Whering
- Whyfield
- Women’s Budget Group
- Woven Ink Studio Limited
- Xaso
- Ynni Sir Gar
- You HR Consultancy
- Zetteler
- Zync Digital
All these organisations have conducted separate analyses of their work and come to the conclusion that the condensed work week will not affect the efficiency and the level of client satisfaction.
The four-day week is becoming progressively popular, which contrasts with the recent promotion of corporate leaders and politicians who encourage people to go back to working fulltime in offices. Other firms like Amazon have also pulled back flexible policies and are only allowing full time presence in the office and the move has been received with mixed reactions by the employees.
Similarly, Lord Stuart Rose, a retired CEO at Asda and Marks & Spencer, recently indicated that working remotely is not a form of proper work and this has been berated among younger workers and liberal employers.
Given such resistance, the companies who still maintained four-day schedules have stated that the advantages of it which are reduced overheads, increased productivity and employee wellbeing are too good to pass up.
Future of Work in the UK
The four-day work week has not taken over in the UK yet but it is easy to see that things are gaining pace. The pioneering businesses are making a loud statement, which is, working fewer does not mean accomplishing less.
With no end in sight to the evidence showing the benefits of shorter weeks, including better mental health and a higher profitability rate, industry analysts predict that, in the future, other organisations would soon join.
On the track it is possible to proceed nowadays, the four-day week would eventually become a norm instead of a phenomenon substantially transforming the workforce in the UK.
