The pilot project of the 4-Day Week Global, in which 33 companies and 903 workers participated to test the four-day work week for six months with no pay cut, proved to be a huge success as an overwhelming majority of the participants are now unlikely to return to a conventional work week.
For the experiment, 4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organization (NGO), cooperated with researchers from Boston College, University College Dublin, and Cambridge University. The experiment was divided into two groups, which began in February and April of this year.
Most of the corporations involved in the trial were situated in the United States and Ireland. Those who responded to the study rated their experience 9 out of 10 in terms of performance and productivity.
Employees were similarly happy about the trial, citing lesser levels of stress, exhaustion, sleeplessness, and burnout, as well as physical and mental health improvements.
No one from the 27 organizations who answered the questionnaire claimed they were inclined toward or intended to return to their prior five-day pattern. Approximately 97% of the 495 workers who participated stated they wanted to keep working four days a week.
The experiment was also beneficial to the company’s revenues. According to the report, average revenue increased 38 percent over the same time the previous year.
According to Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College and the trial’s primary researcher, workers did not notice an increase in the intensity of their tasks.
This implies that the work rearrangement plan was successful and the employers did not increase the workload to achieve the performance goals, which would not have been sustainable or the desired goal of the study.
