Four-day working week gains new traction

After years of debate and trials across the world, campaigns for a four-day working week have gained new traction since the Labour Party has come into government. 

The main UK campaign called 4 Day Week has been steadily producing trial results and ahead of the general election created a mini manifesto calling on political parties to endorse more flexible working.

The organisation is now open to companies to sign up for a trial starting in November so that 4 Day Week can present the government with findings from the trial in the summer of 2025.

The initiative means that the current five-day working week would be reduced to four days with no loss of pay. The project has gained momentum since the pandemic due to workers realising the benefits of working more flexibly.

4 Day Week is proposing to reduce the maximum working week from 48 hours per week to 32 hours by 2030 and for the creation of a £100m fund to support companies in the private sector to move to a 32-hour week.

The organisation wants a fully funded four-day week pilot in the public sector and for a Working Time Council to be created to bring together trade unions, business leaders, and industry leaders to coordinate on policy and implementation of a shorter working week.

While it is uncertain what major impacts this would have on the print industry due to the mix of office workers and production staff, flexible working has been adopted by many companies in the industry since the pandemic as more employees work hybrid between offices and home. 

Speaking to Print Monthly, Matt Hanley, managing director of MTWO, a specialist recruitment agency for the print, packaging, and signage industries, was unsure of how the project would work for manufacturers and their offices.

“Currently many businesses are already squeezed at five or seven days a week,” says Hanley, who adds: “Businesses could make it work by ensuring that everyone isn’t off on the same day and have more shift rotations, but it would be quite a chaotic adjustment period. It’s also worth considering whether this would affect aspects like peak times, quality control, and deliverable time scales.”

Back in March, Peter Jones, founder and managing director of Foyne Jones, a recruiter for the KBB, merchant and construction sales markets, praised the then-recent 4-day working week pilot.

Jones said: “I understand that anything different, creative, and new, typically challenges the norm. But being different is good. Difference lets people thrive and the 4-day week is helping to offer your staff a healthy balance of having a successful career as well as a rewarding personal life.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week campaign, said: “With a new Labour government, change is in the air, and we hope to see employers embracing this change by signing up to our pilot.”

While a four-day working week was not in Labour’s manifesto many cabinet members and union leaders have backed the policy.

Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, previously urged businesses to look at the results of the first UK pilot which yielded positive results as all firms involved planned to continue with shorter hours.

Speaking about the trial’s benefits, Jones added: “If we look at the UK’s changing population and rise of big data leading to businesses across the country becoming accessible anytime, anywhere, then flexible working is already here, and rarely switches off! This is one of the main reasons why 20th-century business models following up to seven eight-hour days are no longer sustainable.”

From a candidate attraction perspective, Hanley sees the initiative as very positive especially as recruitment agencies like MTWO are seeing flexible working as the top priority for many job seekers.

“Hybrid and flexible working is key at the moment especially if businesses want to attract the best talent otherwise they will lose that talent to other companies,” says Hanley. 

“When I speak to candidates the number of days someone wants to work in the office in a week is the first conversation I have as it can inform many other aspects like pay and expenses.”

Previously the UK ranked in the 20 best countries for remote work in research conducted by NordLayer which also reported positive statistics for its healthcare and personal rights benefits. 

Despite the openness to hybrid working a recent survey by NCG revealed 59% of 1,002 senior decision makers would expect employees to increase office attendance compared to the past year.

The latest four-day working week campaign will be run by 4 Day Week along with support from universities and flexible working consultancy, Timewise.