The World's Largest Experiment on a Four-Day Workweek: "Now, 'Quality of Life' is the Competitiveness"

Over 3,300 Participants from 70 UK Companies
100% Productivity Maintained · 80% Working Hours · 100% Wage Payment
Four-Day Workweek Trials to Begin in Spain and Scotland by Year-End

Citizens of London, UK, are walking across London Bridge towards the financial district, the City of London, on January 24th (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] The world's largest experiment on the effects of the '4-day workweek' has begun in the United Kingdom.

According to The Guardian on the 6th (local time), the nonprofit organization 4 Day Week Global, the UK think tank Autonomy, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the UK, and Boston University in the US have planned the 4-day workweek experiment and started its implementation on this day. This experiment will be conducted over six months, involving more than 3,300 workers from 70 companies in the UK.

The experiment is based on the so-called '100-80-100' model, where employees work 80% of the time while maintaining 100% productivity and receiving 100% of their pay. Researchers will collaborate with each participating organization to measure the impact on company productivity, employee welfare and environment, and gender equality.

Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston University and the lead researcher of this experiment, called it a "historic experiment." She stated, "We will analyze how employees respond to additional days off in terms of stress and fatigue, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use, travel, and many other aspects of life."

Joe O'Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said, "As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing quality of life as a new frontier of competition," adding, "Reduced hours and productivity-focused work are becoming the driving forces of competition."

Ed Siegel, CEO of Charity Bank, one of the first banks in the UK to adopt the 4-day workweek, expressed pride in this achievement, saying, "The 5-day workweek is an outdated work model for the 21st century." He added, "A 4-day workweek without cuts in salary or benefits is expected to increase employee satisfaction while positively impacting productivity, customer experience, and social responsibility. We have long aimed for flexible work, but the pandemic has accelerated progress toward this goal."

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that government-supported 4-day workweek experiments are scheduled to begin later this year in Spain and Scotland.