Offering employees a four-day working week may encourage people back into the office

Offering a four-day working week could help to encourage staff into the office more, according to leading global workplace design experts, Unispace.

Returning for Good, a Unispace Global Workplace Insights report – which combined the results of a survey of 9,500 employees and 6,650 employers from 17 countries worldwide – revealed that 88% of professionals would be interested in trialling a four-day working week, however just 42% of employers would be keen to do so, marking a notable difference between the two groups.

According to the study, 46% of staff would be willing to work from the office every day, rather than on a hybrid basis, if the four-day working model was adopted by their employer. This is in stark comparison to 21% who are happy to do so with a more traditional employment schedule. Ultimately, 74% of employers expect that their staff will return to the office for four or more days per week at some point in the future.

Of the employees surveyed, the top sectors that were open to a four-day working week were technology, media and telecoms, consumer goods, financial services and banking and insurance.

However, the data suggests that professionals and their employers are still at odds over shifts to traditional ways of working.

Lawrence Mohuiddine, CEO EMEA at Unispace, commented:
“It is perhaps no surprise that many employees are keen on a shift to a four-day working week given the increased flexibility in how and where people work. However, we feel that it could also have real benefits for many employers, not least in their ability to encourage their staff back to the office and, in the long term, to retain their talent more effectively.”

“When combined with a return to the office, the shift to working in this way could lead to improved productivity amongst workforces too, so it is certainly something for employers to consider, particularly those who are battling high levels of staff attrition. Obviously, this is not possible for firms in every sector, but for many, it could lead to their staff returning to work from the office on a more regular basis.”

“A study by the World Economic Forum found that 90% of firms that trialled the new working model looked to retain it after the programme was finished and that this way of operating led to improved morale, fewer absences and, notably, lower levels of staff burnout.”