The notion of the ‘four-day work week’ has become a hotly contested topic for the past few years. Amid growing numbers of burnt-out, overworked employees, campaigners have been fighting to bring the four-day working week to the UK.

A new pilot programme that will trial the four-day working week will begin this autumn. “The pilot will include organisations that would like to experiment with other forms of flexibility such as a shorter working week, flexible start and finish times, a nine-day fortnight or compressed hours,” reads the campaign description. “These organisations will also be able to take part and benefit from the support, guidance and insight provided through the pilot.” Findings from this trial will be presented to the government next summer.

The news of this upcoming trial comes after numerous other successful trials. Earlier this week, a trial held in South Cambridgeshire by the local Liberal Democrat authorities reported a massive decline in staff turnover and significantly increased productivity.

Additionally, last year, a similar four-day week trial was held by the 4 Day Week Campaign in the UK and was heralded a “breakthrough,” with employees saying they were 39% less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% said it was easier to balance work and home responsibilities. Despite these results, the call for a four-day week was rejected by the Conservative government at the time. This year, campaigners are hoping that the incoming Labour leadership will look on the idea a little more favourably.

According to career experts, there’s already plenty of evidence to suggest the benefits of the 32-hour working week. “It’s very telling that, amongst the companies that took part in the first UK trial, conducted in 2022, the vast majority kept a four-day week in place once it ended,” Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO and co-founder of Flexa, told Stylist. “The results are a really clear indication of how empowering staff, enabling them to access work-life balance, and creating a working week that works for everyone, unlocks big benefits for employers too.”

A new 4-day work week pilot is coming to the UK – here’s why it could be exactly what we all need