He tried a four-day work week and it was so successful that he decided to continue it

(CNN) — A year after concluding the world’s largest trial of a four-day work week, the majority of participating companies were still allowing their employees to work shorter weeks and more than half had made the change permanent.

For six months between June and December 2022, employees at 61 organizations in the UK worked 80% of their normal hours at the same pay, in exchange for 100% of their normal work.

According to a report published by one of the organizers of the trial, at least 89% of those companies still maintain the policy and at least 51% have made the four-day work week permanent by the end of 2023. The two companies did not respond to the researchers who compiled the report.

The study was published this Wednesday by Autonomy, a group of experts who conducted the 2022 trial in collaboration with researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford and Boston, along with the non-profit organization 4 Day Week Global and the 4 Day Week UK campaign. College.

The report says the impact of reduced working hours has been hugely beneficial for employees and their businesses.

At the end of the trial, employees reported enjoying better physical and mental health, greater work-life balance and overall life satisfaction, and less fatigue. These improvements have been maintained even after a year.

“The key thing is that the strong findings at six months are not due to novelty or short-term effects. These effects are real and long-lasting,” said Juliet Shore, a sociology professor at Boston College, who surveyed employees. Companies that participated in the trial.

Managers and CEOs from 28 organizations also agreed to answer additional questions. They all said the four-day work week has had a positive impact on their businesses. Staff turnover fell in half of the organisations, almost a third said the policy had significantly improved recruitment and 82% reported a beneficial impact on staff wellbeing.

Autonomy’s report also highlights the methods organizations have used to maintain the four-day work week, including reviewing rules for meetings, work communication and prioritization.

“This study makes it clear that the four-day working week is not just a fad: businesses across the UK have managed to ‘make it work’,” the authors wrote.

Nearly half of the 61 organizations participating in the 2022 trial are in the marketing and advertising, professional services, and non-profit sectors. The remainder includes a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and arts and entertainment.

The demand for shortening the working week has increased manifold in recent years. These calls have increased as millions of employees moved to remote work and stopped traveling during the pandemic, saving time and money.

There have been several experiments with the four-day work week around the world, including a trial in 33 companies in 2022, with the majority of employees based in the United States and Ireland.