Business Extra: What did we learn from largest trial of four-day work week?



The founder and managing director of 4 Day Week Global, Charlotte Lockhart, joins Business Extra host Kelsey Warner this week to share the results of the world’s largest trial to shorten the working week.

Ms Lockhart led the trial with dozens of employers and 2,900 employees in the UK, and has run similar pilots in the US, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The results showed that reducing work time does not affect the productivity of employees, highlighting that some companies were able to reduce official work hours by 20 per cent without decreasing their pay.

But what are the downsides? And are employers motivated to address them?

Business Insights
  • Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
  • The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
  • US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

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Updated: March 18, 2023, 7:45 AM

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