A four-day week within 10 years?
The CIPD has published a report, 'The four-day week: Employer perspectives', which sets out employer perspectives on moving to a four-day week.
The report is based on a survey which shows that 34% of respondent organisations (2,000 employers were surveyed) consider that a four-day week for most workers is attainable within the next decade. One in ten respondents reported having already reduced working hours without cutting pay in the past five years (47% confirmed that the reductions were part of the furlough scheme). Many of those surveyed felt that increased efficiency would be needed for a four-day week with no reduction in pay to be sustainable, either through organisations working smarter (66%) or the increased use of technology (68%).
The report noted that progress is slow towards adopting a four-day week, with only 1% of employers that have not already done so planning to reduce hours without lowering pay in the next three years. For organisations that have reduced working hours, the main drivers are improving employee wellbeing, helping with recruitment and retention, or a reduction in demand for products or services.
A major trial of the four-day week was launched earlier this year, which involves around 3,330 workers across 70 companies reducing their working week to four days with no loss of pay.