Companies across the UK have kicked off the new government-backed four-day work week trial.
The pilot study is being managed by 4 Day Week Global with the help of think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, as well as researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Boston College.
Over 3,300 workers across 70 companies will be participating in a four-day work schedule, with no loss in pay for six months.
Industries that are participating in the study include animation studios, banking, digital marketing, IT, food and beverage, skincare, and many more.
Throughout the next six months, researchers will analyze how a shorter work week impacts productivity, the wellbeing of participants, as well as the environment and gender equality.
“We’ll be analyzing how employees respond to having an extra day off, in terms of stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use, travel and many other aspects of life,” said Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston College and lead researcher for the study.
“The four-day week is generally considered to be a triple dividend policy — helping employees, companies, and the climate. Our research efforts will be digging into all of this.”
