72% of UK office workers have said they would prefer a four-day working week, offering the same salary with the same amount of work needed, a new report has found. Individuals and some businesses have embraced diverse flexible working models over the past two-years, giving rise to the view that a four day working week is a real possibility.
The ‘Changing behaviours of a flexible workforce in 2022 and beyond’ research* investigates how offices will change in 2022 and how business leaders can support more diverse and asynchronous working practices in order to keep pace with competition and retain employees.
Over half (52%) believe productivity would increase if their organisation introduced a four day week, while 34% of UK workers believe it would stay the same.
Anthony Lamoureux, CEO of Velocity Smart Technology, said, “While there has been debate about the impact on productivity of flexible working over the past couple of years, this research confirms that employees are confident in their abilities to get the job done, even with a reduction in working days. ”
“The four-day week challenges the current model of work and helps companies move away from simply measuring how long people are ‘at work’, to a sharper focus on the output being produced. Business leaders and IT directors need to ask themselves if they could get more from their teams in less time because they are better rested?”
Big technology companies are paving the way, with the likes of Microsoft experimenting with a four-day working week. They have found that by implementing the shorter workweek led to a 40% boost in productivity and creativity.
These changes will begin to manifest across the industry and provide a real glimpse into what the future of working life looks like.
Lamoureux continues, “The launch of the four-day week pilot programme in the UK represents an exciting moment of change for employers and employees. For a company to thrive in this new paradigm it needs to evolve the support provided to remote employees and ensure they’re equipped to give their all.”
Conducted in December 2021 Velocity Smart Technology commissioned the research to investigate the changes in working behaviour and employee attitudes as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, how performance and productivity can be improved, and how workplace IT support will change in 2022 and beyond.
