A hundred UK companies switch to four-day working week with no pay cut

Thousands of employees to enjoy reduced schedule in policy described as ‘transformative’
Online lender Atom Bank has launched a four-day working week for staff without cutting their pay
Atom Bank/PA
Lowenna Waters28 November 2022

Hundreds of Brits are living a worker’s dream — a four-day week.

A hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all of their employees, with no loss of pay. This has been hailed as a milestone in the campaign to fundamentally change Britain’s approach to work.

The 100 companies employ 2,600 staff and they’re hoping to be at the forefront of a major shift in the UK’s attitude to work.

Most of the companies are in the services sector, such as technology, events, or marketing firms. Manufacturing and construction companies have also signed up, reports the Guardian.

Historians have likened the introduction of the four-day week to the 19th-century campaign for a two-day weekend.

Proponents of the move also say that the five-day pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age and that it’s no longer relevant.

They argue that a four-day week would drive companies to improve their productivity, meaning they would achieve the same output in fewer hours.

For early adopters, the policy has reportedly proven a great way of attracting and retaining employees.

Some of the most well-known companies to have signed up include Atom Bank and global marketing company Awin, who each have about 450 staff in the UK.

Adam Ross, Awin’s chief executive, said that adopting the four-day week was: “one of the most transformative initiatives we’ve seen in the history of the company”.

“Over the course of the last year and a half, we have not only seen a tremendous increase in employee wellness and wellbeing but concurrently, our customer service and relations, as well as talent relations and retention also have benefited,” he added.

The UK campaign is co-ordinating the world’s biggest pilot scheme, for about 70 companies, to adopt the four-day trial week. This is in collaboration with the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Boston, as well as the think tank Autonomy.

In September, a survey revealed that 88 per cent of participating companies said that the four-day week was working “well” for their business. Meanwhile, 95 per cent said productivity had either stayed the same or improved.

Speaking to the Guardian, Joe Ryle, the UK campaign’s director, said: “We want to see a four-day week with no loss of pay become the normal way of working in this country by the end of the decade so we are aiming to sign up many more companies over the next few years.

“With many businesses struggling to afford 10% inflation pay rises, we’re starting to see increasing evidence that a four-day week with no loss of pay is being offered as an alternative solution.”

Full list of companies participating in four-day week:

  1. 3D Issue
  2. 448 Studio
  3. 64 Million Artists
  4. 92 Minutes Ltd
  5. Advantage Business Partnerships
  6. Advice Direct Scotland
  7. Atlas Translations
  8. Atom Bank
  9. Awin
  10. Autonomy
  11. Barefoot Architects
  12. BiBO
  13. Big Potato Games
  14. Blink
  15. Brett Nicholls Associates
  16. Butcher Bayley Architects
  17. Causeway Irish Housing Association
  18. Charlton Morris
  19. City to Sea
  20. CIVO
  21. CMG Technologies
  22. Coltech Global
  23. Common Knowledge
  24. Cooked Illustrations
  25. Crystallised
  26. DataLase
  27. DigiLab
  28. Digital Guerilla Consultancy
  29. Earth Science Partnership
  30. Elektra Lighting
  31. Escape the City
  32. ESG Gaming
  33. Esteem Training
  34. Evolved Search
  35. Flocc
  36. Formedix
  37. Forward Space
  38. Four Day Week Ltd
  39. Geeks for Social Change
  40. Gracefruit
  41. Greenpost
  42. Gungho Marketing
  43. HearFocus
  44. Hello Heat Pumps
  45. Hello Starling
  46. Highfield Professional Solutions
  47. JMK Solicitors
  48. Legacy Events
  49. LUX - The Food & Drink Agency
  50. MATS Consultancy
  51. MRL Consulting
  52. NEON (New Economy Organisers Network)
  53. New Vision Digital Marketing
  54. Oriel Square
  55. Original Consultants
  56. Paul David Smith Photography
  57. Pool Data
  58. Portcullis Legals
  59. PTHR
  60. Punch Creative
  61. Reboot
  62. Resilience Brokers
  63. Reward Agency
  64. SEOMG!
  65. Sinister Fish Games
  66. Social Enterprise Direct
  67. Softer Success
  68. STC Expeditions
  69. STOP AIDS
  70. Scottish Community Safety Network
  71. streamGO
  72. T-Cup
  73. Talewind Target Publishing
  74. Team Custard Kraken
  75. Team Norse Thunder
  76. Technovent
  77. The Circle
  78. Think Productive
  79. THRYVE
  80. Time Appointments
  81. Tribera
  82. Uniqodo
  83. UPAC Group
  84. Vault City Brewing
  85. Venture Stream
  86. Whyfield
  87. Xaso
  88. YWCA Scotland
  89. Zync Digital
  90. PureFluent
  91. Counting King Limited
  92. Trio Media
  93. BJP Consulting Group Ltd
  94. This Is Beyond
  95. Global Partners Digital
  96. LIT Communication
  97. Pollard Media
  98. Acuity Solutions
  99. Principles Agency
  100. Tyler Grange Group Ltd

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