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Employees had better overall health and well-being while remaining just as productive when their companies reduced the work week to four days, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge found that 71% of employees self-reported lower levels of “burnout” and 39% said they were less stressed at the conclusion of a six-month study period that involved 61 companies, roughly 2,900 employees and no cuts to worker wages.
Company revenues went unchanged during the study, and they also witnessed a 65% reduction in sick days and 57% reduction in the number of staff leaving the company when compared to the same period the previous year.
The study also found that 60% of employees found more time to combine paid work with their personal responsibilities, and 62% reported it easier to combine work with social life.
A large majority of the companies studied (92%) said they intend to keep the four-day work week in place, while 18 confirmed to researchers that the change is now a permanent policy for their organization.
“Many employees were very keen to find efficiency gains themselves,” sociology professor Brendan Burchell, who led the University of Cambridge side of the research, said in a press release.
“Long meetings with too many people were cut short or ditched completely. Workers were much less inclined to kill time, and actively sought out technologies that improved their productivity,” he said.
The study began June 2022 and involved companies in a variety of industries in Britain — online retailers, consultancies, hospitality, marketing, financial service providers, IT, animation studios and one local fish-and-chip shop.
Employees reported lower levels of anxiety and fatigue, as well as improved levels of mental and physical health, when surveyed throughout the study period.
Participating companies also moved to have shorter meetings with clearer agendas and had employees create lists of what else needed to be done that work day or the next, according to the study.
However, researchers said that some of the participating companies did make the four-day week conditional. That included allotting fewer holidays, securing agreements that staff could be called in on short notice or that the four-day week would remain in place if performance targets were met.
Along with the University of Cambridge, researchers from Boston University and Autonomy, a British think tank, helped carry out the study.
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