Work

Would you like to see your workplace adopt a four-day week?

New study shows employers as well as their staff can benefit significantly from adoption of a four-day week

Participants in a recent four-day working week study cited benefits including reduced stress, improved family time and significantly better sleep. Photograph: iStock

Wed Nov 30 2022 - 13:24

Employers and their staff can benefit significantly from the adoption of a four-day week, according to the authors of a new study based on a pilot project involving 12 Irish firms.

The firms involved, which included a mix of tech services, telecoms and recruitment companies, among others, employed almost 200 people between them and all of the employees surveyed at the end of the six-month pilot said they wished to continue with the arrangement. The trial was based on completing the full workload, for full pay, within a four-day week.

Study participants cited various benefits including reduced stress, improved family time and significantly better sleep. Women appeared to find the changed working arrangements particularly beneficial, according to the report’s lead author in Ireland, Dr Orla Kelly of UCD.

What do you think about such an arrangement? Would you like to see the option of a four-day week offered at your place of work? What would the benefits be to you as an employer or an employee? Could you foresee any downsides, and would it be feasible for your work to be completed within four days?

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