Katherine Sidnell
We all dream of working less days in the week, all while making the same money.
However, one firm trialling a four-day working week found it was a total nightmare which made staff even more stressed.
You’d think having a longer weekend would give colleagues ample time to decompress, but the experiment proved so problematic that staff have been forced to go back to traditional working hours.
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While most firms would quietly go back to standard shift patterns, internet services firm Krystal revealed their schedule change in an open letter to customers.
Originally written by founder Simon Blackler and then published in The Times, the email explained how colleagues at the company had struggled to get through tasks in the reduced time.
Unsurprisingly, it started to affect the quality of work with staff becoming increasingly stressed.
Blackler told customers: “While the team fought admirably to keep on top of work and turned around responses as quickly as possible it came at a cost — work time was now much more stressful than before.”
If that weren’t bad enough, the exec also reported that the output didn’t increase by 20 percent – the amount needed to replace the lost man hours.
Though Krystal apologised to customers and has since reverted back to normal business days, other companies seem to prefer a shorter working week.
Back in 2022, 61 UK companies took part in an experiment which saw working hours get cut by 20 percent – with no reduction in salary.
Staff who were later interviewed in the trial, which was conducted by the University of Cambridge and Boston College, were reportedly 39 percent less stressed.
As if to seal the deal, levels of burnout were down by 71 percent during the ambitious project with the majority of firms wanting to continue with the new hours.
Given how many benefits a four-day week is meant to have, it seems to be a smart business decision for many firms.
According to the Adecco Group, a short working week often results in better mental and physical health.
Those with kids also claim to be less stressed out, as there is less pressure on finding childcare and paying nursery fees.
The group even claim that there is an environmental benefit to a shorter working week, with a lower carbon footprint as fewer people make the daily commute.
After hearing this, we're wondering if our boss would also sign up for such a trial!