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

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