The World’s Biggest Four-Day Work Week Pilot Begins

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Thousands of UK workers are starting a four- day work week with no cut to their pay in the largest trial of its kind.

The pilot，which will last for six months，involves 3，300 workers spanning 70 companies，ranging from providers of financial services to a fish-and-chip restaurant.

During the program，workers receive 100% of their pay for working only 80% of their usual week，in exchange for promising to maintain 100% of their productivity.

The program is being run by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global，Autonomy，a think tank，and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University，Oxford University and Boston College.

數千名英國員工將在不減薪的條件下開始試行一周工作四天，這是史上最大規模的同類試點。

這次試點將持續6個月，涵蓋從金融服務提供商到炸魚薯條餐廳等70家公司的3300名員工。

在這一項目中，員工每周的工作時間只有往常的80%，但是收入還是和原來一樣，條件是承諾保持勞動效率不變。

該項目是由非盈利機構“全球四天工作制”、智囊團Autonomy、英國四天工作制運動團與劍橋大學、牛津大學和波士頓學院的研究人員合作運營的。

Sienna ORourke，brand manager at Pressure Drop Brewing，an independent brewery in London，told CNN Business that the company's biggest goal was to improve the mental health and well-being of its employees.

“The pandemic [has] made us think a great deal about work and how people organize their lives，”she said. “We're doing this to improve the lives of our staff and be part of a progressive change in the world.”

Given the company manufactures and ships products，workers have less flexibility about when and where they work，O'Rourke said. But any difficulties in navigating holiday and sick leave would be tackled as a team.

Until now，Iceland had conducted the biggest pilot of a shorter working week between 2015 and 2019，with 2，500 public sector workers involved in two large trials. Those trials found no corresponding drop in productivity among participants，and a dramatic increase in employee well-being.

Calls to shorten the working week have gathered steam in recent years in several countries. As millions of employees switched to remote work during the pandemic——cutting onerous commuting time and costs——calls for greater flexibility have only grown louder.

Government- backed trials are set to take place in Spain and Scotland later this year，the 4 Day Week Campaign said in a press release.

Joe O'Connor，CEO of 4 Day Week Global，said that the workers have shown they can work “shorter and smarter”.

“As we emerge from the pandemic，more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life，and that reduced- hour，output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge，”he said in the statement.

Researchers will measure the impact the new working pattern will have on productivity levels，gender equality，the environment as well as worker well-being.

倫敦獨立釀酒企業Pressure Drop Brewing的品牌經理西恩娜·奧羅克告訴CNN商業頻道稱，該公司的最大目標是改善員工的心理健康，提升幸福感。

她說“疫情促使我們去思考工作以及人們組織生活的方式。我們這么做是為了改善員工的生活，為世界進步貢獻一份力量。”

奧羅克說，因為本公司負責產品的制造和運送，所以員工在工作時間和地點方面靈活性較低。員工休假或生病時引發的人員調配問題會通過團隊來解決。

冰島在2015年至2019年間開展的短工作周試點活動是迄今為止規模最大的，共有2500名公共部門員工參與了兩次大型試點活動。試點發現，參與者的勞動效率沒有因為工作時間縮短而降低，而員工的幸福感卻有顯著提升。

近年來在一些國家，呼吁縮短每周工作時長的聲音越來越大。疫情期間數百萬員工切換為遠程工作模式，節省了海量的通勤時間和成本，這使得增加工作時間靈活性的呼吁聲變得更大。

英國四天工作制運動團在新聞稿中稱，今年晚些時候，西班牙和蘇格蘭將在政府支持下試行短工作周。……