A four-day working week trial in Scotland’s public sector has seen an increase in productivity and improvements in staff well-being.
Almost all workers at Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) and South of Scotland Enterprise, who piloted a 32-hour week with no loss of pay or benefits, reported improved morale and motivation.
According to Will Stronge, chief executive of the Autonomy Institute, which was commissioned by the Scottish government to coordinate the pilot, the results were “overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that both the workers and employers involved are thriving”.
Four-day week
Four-day week study shows benefits to health
One of the standout results of the year-long trial was that sick days for mental health reasons fell by 25.7%.
Most staff (83%) reported a positive impact on stress and 98% believed the pilot had led to an improvement in motivation and morale.
To ensure that full public services were provided throughout the trial, workers’ days off were staggered.
AiB found mental health improved by 18.4% and stress levels in the workplace dropped by the same amount.
At South of Scotland Enterprise, the percentage of staff feeling “very satisfied” with their work-life balance rose very sharply, from 4% pre-pilot to 84%, nine months in.
Both organisations demonstrated an increase in productivity during the pilot, the Autonomy Institute report found. Staff interviews revealed fresh initiatives around work planning, better task-sharing, new meeting conventions, the digitalisation of processes and the use of task-managing software.
Staff with caring responsibilities were particularly supportive of the pilot, with some describing it as “life changing”.
Both organisations opted to extend the pilot beyond the research period.
Most previous research had mostly focused on the private sector, where similar benefits have been recorded. Last month all 17 companies that took part in a national four-day working week pilot stated they would like to continue working on the same basis.
Stronge said of the Scottish study: “These groundbreaking results show that the public sector can reap similar benefits, including improved productivity, employee well-being, and work-life balance.”
He said the spread of AI meant workers needed to consider the merits of a shorter working week: “As the introduction of AI accelerates across industries, it’s crucial that workers in both the public and private sectors experience the benefits of these advancements and one of the easiest ways of achieving this is by shortening the working week.”
In July, the Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire District Council became the first local authority in the UK to permanently adopt the four-day working pattern after running a similar trial. The council found that its four-day working week trial led to easier recruitment for hard-to-fill roles, staff turnover fell by 39%, and tasks such as deciding planning applications happened much more quickly.
The research team behind the Autonomy Institute’s trial in Scotland included professors from Boston College, and the universities of Cambridge, Salford and Heriot Watt.
Vicky Walker, chief people officer at Westfield Health, said that trialling a four-day work week was a proactive step in “adapting the traditional work structure to be more suitable and tailored to UK workers’ needs” and that by reducing the number of working days, people may be more motivated to complete their tasks and increase productivity levels.
But she warned that although the four-day work week could offer numerous benefits, “we must be realistic and recognise that it may not be feasible for all organisations or employees”.
A one-size-fits-all approach to a four-day work week was not practical and the transition must balance between business and employee needs, she added, but “with the right set-up and clear standards of working, a four-day week could be the future for many businesses.”
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