"Introducing a Four-Day Workweek for Employees' Physical and Mental Health and Work Productivity"
Research in Iceland Shows a Four-Day Workweek Does Not Reduce Work Efficiency
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Atom Bank, the UK's first internet bank, has introduced a four-day workweek for all employees without any salary cuts. Atom Bank is known as the business model followed by South Korea's K Bank and Kakao Bank.
According to the US CNN on the 23rd (local time), all 430 Atom Bank employees started the four-day workweek earlier this month without a separate trial period. As a result, the weekly working hours for Atom Bank employees have been reduced from 37.5 hours to 34 hours, but their salaries remain the same. Currently, most employees have switched to the four-day workweek and can choose to take an additional day off on either Monday or Friday.
Atom Bank stated that the four-day workweek was introduced to improve employees' physical and mental health as well as work productivity. Mark Mullen, CEO of Atom Bank, said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, office working hours significantly decreased, but productivity and the quality of customer service did not decline," adding, "We will further encourage opportunities to achieve 'work-life balance'."
There are also research findings indicating that a four-day workweek does not reduce work efficiency. According to CNN, a trial of a four-day workweek with the same pay was conducted in Iceland from 2015 to 2019, and no productivity gap was found among participants. During this period, the costs invested in employee welfare were also not significantly different from before.
Earlier, in August last year, Elephant Ventures, a software and data engineering company in New York City, USA, also permanently switched to a four-day workweek after a certain trial period.
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