Will the four-day week survive 2023?

Will the four-day week survive 2023?


International Employment Lawyer

In the UK, a separate trial involving more than 70 organisations and more than 3,300 workers was completed on 6 December. While the results will be published in the new year, data from the halfway point showed 86% of businesses were “extremely likely” or “likely” to consider retaining the four-day workweek.

These positive results could see the four-day week garner more interest from companies in 2023, although challenges to reforming the traditional workweek remain, according to GQ|Littler partner Raoul Parekh.

“Employers have faced a combination of economic pressures and an increasingly difficult talent market in recent months, and the four-day week is one way they can try to square the circle: offering a great recruitment sell without adding cost. That said, the [UK] trial remains small-scale, and we haven’t yet seen a flood of enquiries from employers seeking to move to this model,” he tells IEL.

“The uptick in redundancies in some sectors may also refocus employers’ attention away from this sort of wide-scale shake-up. HR professionals and employment lawyers alike will be watching the final results of the trial with interest.”

Read the full article here.