The non-profit group 4 Day Week Global has published the findings of their trial into the impacts of a four-day workweek on businesses. The trial began in February 2022, when 33 companies enacted a “meaningful work time reduction” for six months without reducing pay.

The companies, which collectively employed over 900 people, were spread across North America, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The largest group of companies was represented by admin, IT & telecoms businesses at 36% of participants, while the second-largest group was professional services companies, at 27%. Almost all companies (88%) enacted a four-day workweek for all staff, with Friday being a common day off, while the remaining 12% gave a four-day week to most employees with a small group taking reduced daily hours instead.

According to the report analyzing the trial’s results, two-thirds of the companies are “definitely continuing” with a four-day week after the experience, with over a quarter “planning to continue” pending a final decision. According to the trial data, overall revenue across the companies rose by an average of 8.14% during the trial. Despite the trial taking place in the middle of the so-called ‘Great Resignation,’ the companies also saw a 12.16% increase in staff.

A survey at the end of the trial found that 97% of employees wanted their four-day workweek arrangement to continue, with 67% reporting feeling less burned out. The trial also resulted in a 9% decrease in fatigue among employees, an 8% decrease in sleep problems, and a 16% increase in exercise time per week.

"Anecdotally, we have a manager who's also a psychotherapist — she's now able to spend more time on her therapy practice," the head of a talent acquisition service that took part in the trial told Business Insider. "We've got mums and parents who are able to drop off and pick up their kids on a Friday, which they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.” The company also told Business Insider that during the trial, they saw a doubling of gross profits, a doubling of staff productivity, and support of their new routine from their client base.

Despite the positive results reported by the survey, Business Insider’s analysis of the report points to the potential weaknesses of a four-day workweek depending on the industry or approach to implementation.

“A shorter week could mean employees' workload increases each day, causing more stress rather than less,” notes author Molly Lipson in the piece. “For companies that experience significantly busier periods around holidays or during the summer, it may not be possible to extend the program across the whole year. And many companies, such as banks or insurance companies that require around-the-clock customer service or news organizations that follow a 24-hour news cycle, aren't able to shutter for even one day each week.”

For architecture firms curious about the impact of a four-day work week on their operations, precedent is provided by UK firms Butcher Bayley Architects (BBA) and Barefoot Architects, both of whom operate a 32-hour schedule from Monday to Thursday, with Fridays taken as a day off.

“Clients understand that an email might not be answered the same day,” BBA co-founder Carrie Bayler told RIBA in an article on the subject from July 2022. “And they know we have other clients. We also like to keep replies to standard office hours. It’s not healthy to be replying immediately to clients way outside of hours.”

“Even the biggest commercial contractors we’ve worked with have applauded it,” Barefoot Architects founder Sam Goss told RIBA. “They admit it’s something they would love to do. Everybody gets it. I think it has become a sort of brand identity for us.”

Like the companies who took part in the above trial, staff at BBA are not paid less for their four-day week, though the employees do receive fewer paid holidays than is traditional due to the pro-rata nature of holiday allocation. In addition, the firm concedes that on rare occasions during busy months, the team will be consulted on working a one-off, five-day week to be compensated as paid overtime.

“If it’s vital and necessary, we will plan it in advance,” BBA co-founder Luke Butcher told RIBA. “We’ll ask who might be available to work on Friday and it is up to the team to volunteer if they can. If nobody’s available we might have to change the program around to suit.”

Does your architecture or design office operate a four-day workweek? Let us know your experience in the comments below.