These 100 companies with 2,600 employees is hoping that they will lead a major shift in Britain's approach to work as the group believes that five-day working pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age, The Guardian reported.
They also argued that the four-day approach will enhance their productivity, which means same output in less hours. The two biggest companies, which have signed up in the four-day week campaign, are Atom Bank and Awin.
Earlier in June this year, a total of 70 UK firms have also conducted a trial run of four-day work week with no cut to their pay. The pilot scheme, for six months, involved thousands of workers, ranging from a local fish and chip shop to large financial companies.
The program was organized by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from the Cambridge University, the Oxford University and the Boston College.
During the trial, the staff is getting 100% pay for 80% of the hours they would usually work, with the aim of being more productive.
Calls to shorten the work week have gathered steam in recent years in many countries amid the pandemic. As lakhs of employees switched to remote work during Covid-19 — cutting onerous commuting time and costs — calls for greater flexibility have only grown louder.
A similar trials of a four-day week in Iceland became an "overwhelming success" and led to many workers moving to shorter hours, researchers have said. The trials, in which workers were paid the same amount for shorter hours, took place between 2015 and 2019.
