Could a four-day working week be the right choice for you?
The pandemic changed a lot of things for a lot of people, and one of the most profound changes many office workers in particular experienced was a total shake-up in the way they worked. Overnight, remote work became not only possible, but successful.
The stats back this up: Remote working increases productivity, with a study from ConnectSolution finding that 77 per cent of remote workers are more productive when working from home, with 30 per cent doing more work in less time, and 24 per cent doing more work in the same period of time.
Before the pandemic, there was already a gradual upwards trend for remote and hybrid working. Between January and December 2019, 12 per cent of the UK workforce had worked at least one day from home in the previous week, and in this period, five per cent worked from home, according to data from the UK parliament.
During the pandemic period itself, 49 per cent of Britons were working at home at least one day from home in June 2020, and 38 per cent were working from home exclusively.
While things have changed again for some workers following lockdown easements, so much change in such a short time has opened both employees and employers up to the way work will happen in the future.
Given the context, it is not surprising that, thanks to advocacy platforms such as 4-Day Week Global and think-tank Autonomy, we could be looking at another radical shift in the way we work. The results of 4-Day Week Global’s largest four-day working week trial were recently published, and they revealed overwhelmingly positive outcomes.
The trial took place in the UK from June to December 2022 and saw 61 companies with approximately 2,900 workers adopt a four-day week adopting 4-Day Week Global’s 100-80-100 model – 100 per cent of the pay, for 80 per cent of the time, in exchange for a commitment to delivering 100 per cent of the output.
Successful
The results speak for themselves: 92 per cent of participating organisations are continuing with a four-day week, a further four per cent are leaning towards continuing, and only four per cent of participants are definitely not continuing. Additionally, 90 per cent of employees said they definitely want to continue working four days a week.
Other successes included a revenue rise of 1.4 per cent on average over the trial, and when compared to a similar period from previous years, organisations reported revenue increases of 35 per cent, on average.
Additionally, the number of staff leaving fell by 57 per cent, and 55 per cent of workers reported an increase in their abilities at work. 15 per cent said that no amount of money would make them accept a five-day schedule at their next job.
More flexibility
Whether you’re looking for a job that allows you to work four days a week, or you’d just like a bit more flexibility in your schedule, the P2P Finance News Job Board is a great place to start your search – discover three open roles below.
Head of Quality Assurance & Outcome Testing, Starling Bank, Southampton
The Head of Quality Assurance & Outcome Testing is a brand new role at Starling Bank and will define a QA and outcome testing strategy, approach and execution. You’ll engage and motivate colleagues through open communication and role modelling core values, direct the development of the QA strategy, methodology, discipline and framework, and evaluate the challenges faced by the bank and take action to mitigate risks. To apply, you should be a strong leader with experience in implementing and shaping first line QA and outcome testing processes and strategies, strong communication skills, and be comfortable providing constructive challenge and feedback to senior leaders. Get the full information for this job here.
Lead Product Owner – Enterprise Services, Metro Bank PLC, London
As Lead Product Owner – Enterprise Services, you’ll own the vision of the feature team, products and accompanying roadmaps. Defining success, and how Metro Bank will measure it using qualitative and quantitative data analysis is also part of the job. Plus, you’ll lead regular performance updates, and prioritise features to maximise value creation, ensuring clear benefits cases for features prioritised and ensuring benefit realisation is tracked across teams. To apply, you’ll need experience of delivering new products as well as knowledge of a wide ranging set of domains which include: IT infrastructure, networking, data, and operations. Find out more right here.
Business Banking FinCrime SME, Monzo, London
Monzo is looking for an exceptional Financial Crime Control Owner to drive forward the development of its business banking fincrime capabilities. You will support the strategy to deliver improvements to the control, working closely with product and engineering teams to optimise Monzo’s ability to detect, prevent and pursue all aspects of financial crime. You should really understand the financial crime regulatory framework and typologies and have expert knowledge in how to develop business banking fincrime systems, rules and models to most effectively detect and prevent all types of financial crime. To be considered, you’ll need significant experience working in financial crime for business or commercial banking. A strong ability to analyse data to identify patterns and trends and draw conclusions that improve detection capabilities is also required. Additionally you’ll have led the implementation of improvements to fincrime systems in similar organisations. See all the requirements for this role here.
For more great opportunities in finance, check out the P2P Finance News Job Board today
Article written by Kirstie McDermott at Jobbio