Recruiter Girling Jones among UK firms trialling four-day weeks

Construction and property recruiter Girling Jones is among the 70 UK companies involved in a six-month trial beginning today [6 June] of working a four-day week with no loss in pay.

However, Girling Jones began working four-day weeks in January. 

During the six-month trial, organised by 4 Day Week Global, researchers will analyse how employees respond to having an extra day off, in terms of areas including stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use and travel.

Also involved with organising the trial are the thinktank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.

Speaking to the Guardian, Juliet Schor, a professor of sociology at Boston College and lead researcher on the pilot, described it as an “historic trial”. 

“The four-day week is generally considered to be a triple-dividend policy – helping employees, companies and the climate,” Schor said. “Our research efforts will be digging into all of this.”

Joe O’Connor, CEO of the not-for-profit group 4 Day Week Global, said the UK was at the crest of the four-day week wave: “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognising that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.”

Some of the other companies involved provide education, workplace consultancy, housing, skincare, building and construction recruitment services, food and beverages, and digital marketing.

Researchers will work with each participating organisation to measure the impact on productivity in the business and the wellbeing of its workers, as well as the impact on the environment and gender equality.

Government-backed four-day week trials are also due to begin later this year in Spain and Scotland.

Ed Siegel, CEO of trial participant Charity Bank, said: “The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business. We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.”

Commentators outside the trial have warned of potential fallout from the experiment, such as burnout and increased stress on workers who are trying to condense the same amount of work from a five-day week into a four-day period. 

However, others acknowledge that a four-day week is a highly popular benefit for workers and jobseekers. “The four-day week is also reported to increase employee engagement, keep employees motivated and generally increase loyalty to the employer. These factors inevitably lead to better retention levels and therefore a reduction in the costs and disruption associated with employees leaving and needing to be replaced,” said Harriet Calver, senior associate at law firm Winckworth Sherwood.


Philip Richardson, partner and head of employment law at Stephensons, commented: “If a team can be just as productive, and perhaps more so, over four days rather than five, there are likely to be many firms who would seriously consider this option. While of course this won’t suit every industry, this trial will be a helpful barometer of whether this concept works and whether we are likely to see the introduction of a four-day working week as a regular fixture in people’s employment contracts.”

The trial will include:
Workshops: delivered by 4 Day Week Global, alongside Autonomy and other companies and organisations that have already successfully implemented a four-day week. This includes online webinars and resources to help with common challenges, pitfalls and misconceptions.

Mentoring: from 4 Day Week Global and Autonomy and a network of accredited 4 Day Week Employers. Participants are matched with a mentor that best supports their unique situation.


Networking: with other UK participants in the pilot programme. This community acts as a peer-support network to share lessons and experiences.

Wellbeing and Productivity Assessment: by a team of world-class academics, as part of a global research project. Researchers are establishing relevant productivity and worker wellbeing metrics for each participant, and defining what success looks like. These metrics are being monitored throughout the trial, with a confidential impact assessment specific to each organisation produced after the trial, alongside a published report collating the data from all participating companies and employees on an anonymous basis.

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