In June 2022, sixty-one companies in the UK did something most managers would call reckless. They cut everyone to a four-day week, kept pay at one hundred percent, and let independent academics measure exactly what happened. Six months later, the results made the four-day week impossible to dismiss as a fad.
How was the trial run?
It was organised by the campaign group 4 Day Week Global and the think tank Autonomy, with researchers from Boston College and the University of Cambridge keeping score.1 The companies ranged from marketing agencies to a fish-and-chip shop, so this was not a sample of tech firms with money to burn. The model was 100-80-100: full pay, eighty percent of the hours, in exchange for a commitment to keep output at one hundred percent. Crucially, the firms spent roughly two months beforehand redesigning workflows and meeting practices, so the reduced hours were absorbed by cutting waste rather than cramming.2
What happened to output and revenue?
The fear was that a day less would mean a fifth less work. It did not. Revenue across the participating companies stayed broadly flat over the trial, and rose for some.3 The output the fifth day had been producing turned out to be, in large part, the low-value work that better structure could remove.
What happened to the people?
This is where the numbers are stark. Seventy-one percent of employees reported reduced burnout. Sick days fell by around sixty-five percent. Measures of stress, anxiety, sleep, and fatigue all improved.3 And the human detail the spreadsheets miss: around fifteen percent of participants said no amount of money would persuade them back to a five-day week.4 The reclaimed day did not vanish into more leisure-shaped consumption. For many it went into exercise, friends, family, and simply not spending the weekend recovering from the week.
Did it stick?
The clinching number is what happened when the trial ended. Ninety-two percent of the companies kept the four-day week, and eighteen made it permanent.3 A follow-up more than a year later found nearly eighty-nine percent still running it, with the wellbeing gains holding. The lead researcher, sociologist Juliet Schor, described the results as stable and “not a novelty effect.”5
What should you take from it?
Two things. First, the trial is strong evidence that output can be held while hours fall, but companies self-selected into it, so read it as a powerful proof of concept rather than a guarantee for every workplace.6 Second, and more useful, the mechanism is portable. The day was not freed by magic or by people sprinting. It was freed by deleting low-value meetings and reports and protecting focus time, then letting the hours follow. You do not need your employer to run a pilot to borrow that logic. Audit your week, cut the work that should not exist, and the time appears. The UK trial simply proved it at scale.
Frequently asked questions
What were the results of the UK four-day week trial?
Across 61 companies and about 2,900 workers, revenue stayed broadly flat, sick days fell about 65 percent, and 71 percent of employees reported reduced burnout. When the six-month trial ended, 92 percent of companies kept the four-day week and 18 made it permanent.
How long did the UK four-day week pilot last?
The main pilot ran for six months, from June to December 2022, with independent researchers from Boston College and the University of Cambridge measuring the outcomes.
Did companies keep the four-day week after the UK trial?
Yes. Ninety-two percent of participating companies continued the four-day week immediately after the trial, and a follow-up found nearly 89 percent still operating it more than a year later, with wellbeing gains holding.
About the author
Tom Goodwin is the author of Don’t Work Harder, a book about taking the time AI gives back as time rather than more work. He is a co-founder of GAMEPLAN and writes on productivity, technology, and the economics of the working week.
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Autonomy and 4 Day Week Global, The Results Are In: The UK’s Four-Day Week Pilot (February 2023): 61 companies and approximately 2,900 workers, June to December 2022, with research by Boston College and Cambridge. ↩
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4 Day Week Global trial design: participating companies undertook roughly two months of preparation, redesigning workflows and meeting practices before reducing hours. ↩
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Autonomy (2023): revenue broadly stable, a 65 percent reduction in sick days, 71 percent reporting reduced burnout, and 56 of 61 companies (92 percent) continuing the four-day week, 18 permanently. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Autonomy (2023): around 15 percent of participating employees said no amount of money would induce them to return to a five-day week. ↩
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NPR, “These companies tried a 4-day workweek” (February 2024): around 89 percent still operating a year on; Schor describes the results as “not a novelty effect.” ↩
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APA Monitor (January 2025): companies self-select into trials, biasing the sample toward organisations already supportive of flexibility. ↩