Staff working at more than 30 firms across the UK will work four-day weeks over the next six months for the same salary, as an experimental pilot gets underway.
Campaigners calling for a reduction in the number of working days have said it will create a better work-life balance but critics have warned it will lead to more stress as employees attempt to squeeze more work into fewer hours.
The trial, led by 4 Day Week Global, will see staff members completing the same amount of work, and up to 35 hours each week, but split over four days rather than five.
While lockdowns have made a large number of employees reevaluate the tricky work-life balance, a proposed four-day working week has been designed to offer employees flexible hours and increase productivity during working hours.
Joe O’Connor, pilot programme manager for 4 Day Week Global, said the concept will 'herald in a bold new future of work' during 2022.
Companies taking part in the trial include Big Potato Games, a board game company based in East London, Blink, a digital marketing agency in Norwich, and Charlton Morris, a specialist search firm.
Campaigners calling for a reduction in the number of working days have said it will create a better work-life balance but critics have warned it will lead to more stress as employees attempt to squeeze more work into fewer hours
Morrisons and Unilever are are reportedly considering switching to a four-day week, while the British arm of camera company Canon is to take part in a six month trial run by academics at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, reports the Guardian.
Finance firm Atom Bank has already made the shift to the shorter working week.
Similar experiments are due to be held in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, while trials are already being conducted in Spain and Scotland.
Researchers have been arguing that benefits to a four-day week would also see staff return a more efficient work performance for their employers.
Several influencer agencies are already operating a four-day working week, including Engage Hub, whose employees will have either a Wednesday or a Friday off, rotating every eight weeks.
In marketing, where jobs often offer higher salaries, workers deal with heavy workloads and competition, with many people working up to 60 hours a week.
Sam O'Brien, Chief Marketing Officer at performance marketing platform Affise, said: 'Those working in marketing can have the stress of competitors and keeping up to date with the digital world, which has not been easy during the course of the pandemic.
'The effects of the past two years have resulted in many extra hours
