Three in four working Brits say they can do their job to the same standard in four days as they do in five.
This according to a job site Indeed, which surveyed 2000 full-time employees on what work means to them today, against the backdrop of jobseeker trends from the last five years.
The results reveal that UK workers are ready for a four-day working week – 74% claim they could do their job to the same standard in four days as they do in five.
This rises to four in five (79%) among millennials.
The results come as politicians, trade union leaders and employers increasingly examine the feasibility of a four-day working week, a debate sparked by accelerating automation, a changing attitude to work among younger workers and improvements in mobile technology.
Data from Indeed underlines these emerging trends – searches for ‘working from home’, ‘flexible work’ and ‘remote work’ are up 116% as a share of all searches on Indeed’s UK site since 2015.
Employers are starting to respond – between 2014 and 2019, Indeed recorded a 136% increase in the phrase “flexible working hours” in job postings in the UK.
“Time will tell if workers’ enthusiasm for the four-day week ever makes it the norm in the UK, but the idea has shot up the agenda of politicians, academics and even some employers over the last twelve months,” Pawel Adrjan, UK economist at Indeed, said.
“Demands for flexibility and work/life balance are also increasing, so employers who want to attract and retain the best staff will need to take an imaginative and flexible approach to how they organise their people.”
How do you feel about a 4-day work week? Let us know by emailing us at editors@businessadvice.co.uk.
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