More than 200,000 workers in the UK have moved to a four-day week since before the pandemic, signalling a significant shift in working patterns.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that between October and December 2024, nearly 1.4 million people reported working full-time across four days up by more than 100,000 from the same period in 2019, when 1.29 million did so.
Another 100,000 said they worked part-time over four days, pushing the total to 2.7 million, or 10.9% of the workforce, compared with 9.8% five years earlier.
Meanwhile the data does not clarify whether workers have compressed their hours into fewer days or accepted a pay cut in exchange for shorter weeks.
Advocates argue that a four-day schedule boosts wellbeing and productivity by reducing stress and improving staff retention. The 4 Day Week Foundation, which campaigns for a 32-hour week with no loss of pay, said more than 420 firms employing around 12,000 staff have adopted the model since the pandemic, either by joining its accreditation scheme or publicly announcing the change.
“The nine-to-five, five-day week is a century-old model that no longer reflects how we live and work,” said Sam Hunt, the foundation’s business network coordinator.
But “a four-day week with no loss of pay is about freedom and the freedom to live healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.”
The pandemic accelerated workplace reforms, normalising hybrid working for more than a quarter of adults in Britain.
But while many employees have fought to preserve flexible arrangements in the face of office return mandates, reducing the number of working days has proven more contentious.
South Cambridgeshire district council has become the first local authority in the UK to permanently introduce a four-day week. After a 27-month trial, it voted to allow its 700 staff to complete 100% of their duties in about 80% of their contracted hours, with no pay cut.
The council reported faster delivery of services such as planning applications and housing repairs, higher staff morale, reduced turnover and savings of almost £400,000 from cutting reliance on agency staff.
Other councils are understood to be trialling similar schemes. The initiative had been opposed by the previous Conservative government, which argued that four-day weeks did not provide taxpayers with value for money.
That guidance was withdrawn last November by Labour, which said councils were independent employers responsible for their own workforce management.
Senior Labour figures, including deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, have expressed support for a shorter working week, although the government has not adopted the policy nationally.
In Scotland, a year-long pilot involving two public sector bodies began in early 2024, with results expected soon.
So far, marketing firms, tech companies and charities have led the way in adopting four-day weeks, but campaigners hope that momentum is building for the practice to become mainstream across the UK economy.
