Overview
4 Day Work Week in the UK
The United Kingdom ran the world's largest four-day-week trial. From June to December 2022, 61 companies and around 2,900 employees moved to a four-day week on 100% pay, coordinated by 4 Day Week Global with the Autonomy Institute and researchers at Cambridge University and Boston College. The results were emphatic: 56 of the 61 companies (92%) kept the four-day week afterwards, and 18 made it permanent.
The wellbeing gains were striking — 39% of employees were less stressed and 71% reported reduced burnout, with lower anxiety and fatigue and better physical and mental health. Businesses did well too: revenue was broadly stable during the trial and up around 35% on the same period a year earlier, while the number of staff leaving fell by 57%.
Momentum has continued. In late 2025 the 4 Day Week Foundation ran a further pilot of 17 British businesses, which reported a 100% success rate — every employer chose to keep the four-day week, with 62% of staff reporting reduced burnout. With growing union backing, reduced-hours working remains firmly on the agenda: the Labour government dropped its earlier four-day-week pledge but has committed to strengthening workers' rights.
