Nearly three in four employees want four-day week, survey finds

Nearly three in four employees want a four-day working week, survey finds as firms report up to 40% of staff would prefer more time at home due to childcare issues and commuting costs

• Workers say that they could do as much work in four-day weeks as they do in five
• Employees are still pushing for more flexibility in where and when they work
• A study found that 40 per cent of hybrid workers are still unhappy with the office

Most people think they could do as much work in a four-day week as they do in five as it was claimed that four in ten hybrid workers still want more time at home in a new report.

Employees are continuing to push for fewer work hours and more flexibility after the pandemic as the cost-of-living crisis becomes the primary reason workers want to stay at home.

Research by financial comparison site NerdWallet suggests that almost three in four workers are in favour of a four-day week with the same study finding a majority believe they can do five days’ work in four days.

More than 3,000 employees at 70 UK firms are taking part in a four-day working week trial running for six months.

Women are more confident in their ability to do so – and are more likely to resist a pay cut to achieve a shorter week, the report said.

Connor Campbell of NerdWallet said: ‘It’s clear to see there is a large appetite for the four-day working week in the UK and it will be interesting to find out the results of (the) four-day week trial to assess whether this could be a wider possibility for employees.

Research by financial comparison site NerdWallet suggests that almost three in four workers are in favour of a four-day week 

‘Workers in the UK are seemingly confident about their ability to work smarter, rather than harder, so employers may want to take notice of their workers’ needs in order to avoid potential resignations and moves to businesses that can accommodate shorter working weeks.’

Even compromise arrangements for hybrid working are not enough for some employees.

Most respondents said their staff generally spend between two and three days working from home each week, but almost two in five employees are unhappy with this split and would prefer to spend even less time in the office. 

A survey of almost 300 organisations by XpertHR found that nearly all said they have encountered challenges implementing hybrid working.

Noelle Murphy, of XpertHR, said: ‘Human resources (HR) have managed one of the biggest changes to working life since the Industrial Revolution with hybrid working, but it is still a work in progress.

‘Challenges continue and HR will need to continue to address these, while ensuring this new way of working delivers for all employees.

‘HR are clear that there is work to be done challenging the outdated view that presenteeism means productivity, and that where the work is done is less important than the quality of the work produced.

‘While there are retention challenges facing employers right now, it is even more important that HR can continue to evolve and tweak hybrid working models to ensure they support and facilitate a culture of connection and collaboration that will deliver engaged employees and a successful business.’

A survey of almost 300 organisations by XpertHR found that nearly all said they have encountered challenges implementing hybrid working 

 Organisations surveyed said the benefits of hybrid working for employers and staff include improved work-life balance, increased productivity, improved engagement and a positive impact on attracting and retaining workers.

The signs come months after it emerged that three in four adults in Britain are were travelling to work at some point during the week – up from two-thirds in April, an official survey suggested.

But the data published by the Office for National Statistics also found around a third of people are continuing to spend part of their week working at home.

The figures point to a shift in certain types of public behaviour over the past two months – a period coinciding with a steady fall in Covid-19 infections.

The trend will also be welcomed by the Government which has been struggling to end the working from home culture that developed during the pandemic.

Huge numbers of civil servants are reluctant to go back to their desks, prompting fears for productivity and the survival of businesses in city centres that rely on them.

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