According to a UK study, a four-day work week is more productive.

Working for 5 days a week is exhausting, it feels forever and we hated it. What if we just need to go for 4 days?

Most UK companies taking part in the largest-ever trial of the four-day work week are not switching back to the five-day standard, and a third are prepared to make that change permanent.

About 2,900 employees from 61 organizations who voluntarily adopted shortened workweeks from June to December 2022 participated in the study. Data released on Tuesday showed that only three organizations chose to pause the experiment, and two are still considering shorter hours. The remaining individuals were persuaded that four work days were superior to five because of revenue increases, decreases in turnover, and lower levels of employee burnout.

Given that the research took place during trying economic conditions that squeezed many British companies, including rapid inflation, political unpredictability, and Brexit fallout, it is noteworthy that thousands of employees adopted shorter schedules. It occasionally seemed dubious to start a work-hour reduction program in the midst of a recession.

The findings of smaller trials conducted by US, Irish, and Australian companies, the results of which were published in December, are strongly supported by the UK data. According to that study, there were similar increases in employee productivity and revenue along with decreases in turnover and absenteeism. The number of companies and employees covered by those pilots was about half that of the UK trial.

The UK results are the second significant data release in a continuous series of 4-day tests organized by 4-Day Week Global, a nonprofit advocacy group with New Zealand roots. The researchers start to track the long-term effects of lighter schedules with each iteration and make adjustments to their data collection.

Employees in a trial of a shorter workweek reported improvements in stress, fatigue, health, and personal life, with men spending more time looking after children. Companies adopted four-day schedules, with some opting for shorter five-day arrangements.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) conducted a trial in the UK to test the business case for the four-day week. Results showed that organizational revenue was up 35%, employee absenteeism dropped from 2 days a month to 0.7, and turnover fell by more than half.

Companies rated the experience as positive, averaging 7.5 on a 10-point scale. Environmental consultancy Tyler Grange said the shorter schedule boosted productivity by over a fifth and led to 18 fewer lost days per month due to sickness. Flexibility gains and losses were seen as a new weapon in the battle for talent.

The four-day week is a key strategy for employee attraction and retention, with nonprofits and professional-services employees seeing larger gains in time spent exercising, while construction workers saw the greatest benefits around sleep issues and burnout. Women in particular benefitted from the extra day off, with greater boosts around life and job satisfaction.

However, some are skeptical of the link between days worked and flexibility. Companies looking to shift to four-day weeks will also run into practical issues, such as whether to give pay rises to the 25% of the UK workforce which already works four days per week or less.