Four Day Work Week Test: Huge Success

A four day work week?  Don't get too excited just yet it is not imminent, at least not in the United States.

Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand financial services company, switched its 240 staff from a five-day to a four-day week last November and maintained their pay. Productivity increased in the four days they worked so there was no drop in the total amount of work done, a study of the trial released on Tuesday has revealed.

The question you're about to ask is...Are they 10 hour days? No...the employees in the test group went from 37.5 hours for a 5 day work week, to 30 hours for a 4 day week.

Details of an earlier trial showed the biggest increases were in commitment and empowerment. Staff stress levels were down from 45% to 38%. Work-life balance scores increased from 54% to 78%.

“This is an idea whose time has come,” said Andrew Barnes, Perpetual Guardian’s founder and chief executive.

What did people do on that extra day off?  Some played golf, or watched Netflix, described as regular weekend activities, but others spent time with parents or cleaned the house mid-week with the result, having their weekend free.

Find more details of the study here.