30-plus companies trial 4-day week across ANZ

A new four-day week pilot is underway, as over 30 companies and almost 1000 workers across Australia and New Zealand get an extra day per week back with no loss of pay.

The six-month coordinated trial, run by non-profit 4 Day Week Global, operates off the 100-80-100™ model where workers get 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintaining at least 100% of the output.

Participating companies operate across a diverse range of industries, offering services in the manufacturing, fashion, healthcare, real estate, finance, technology, education and PR sectors, to name but a few. In New Zealand the companies include Cook Costello Limited, Haemata Limited, Kowtow Clothing and BVT Engineering Professional Services’

The trial will be followed by a team of researchers at Boston College, the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney, who work with each company to define and establish their research baseline and relevant productivity metrics for the trial. The economic, social and ecological impact of the four-day week is also monitored throughout, assessing productivity, employee wellbeing, and gender and environmental impacts.

This pilot is part of a series of international programs, with others already underway in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland, with many more planned in the coming months.

Maygan Holland, director at New Zealand-based consultant engineering firm, Cook Costello Limited, says they are re-engineering their work week. “We believe collaboration of teams and creating time efficiencies using all available resources are crucial components in ensuring a sustainable working environment.

“The four-day week has the potential to be an important tool for Cook Costello in supporting our people to have time for what is important in their lives. We are excited to be part of this trial and to see what difference it makes to the way we work.”

Andrew Barnes (pictured above), an entrepreneur and 4 Day Week Global co-founder says he had the idea to trial a four-day week at his company Perpetual Guardian, but could never have imagined what was going to come of it.

“Now, four years later, after helping hundreds of companies and thousands of workers make the transition, all while hitting countless global headlines, we’re finally launching a pilot program back where it all began.

“We’ve already proven that success is possible and I’m very much looking forward to strengthening the evidence in favour of a four-day week with the positive outcomes this pilot is sure to produce.”

What 4 Day Week Global is all about

4 Day Week Global was founded in New Zealand by Andrew Barnes alongside entrepreneur and philanthropist Charlotte Lockhart in 2019, following the world-renowned success of their pioneering trial of the four-day working week in Perpetual Guardian in 2018.

Since then, 4 Day Week Global has supported hundreds of companies from a variety of industries all over the world to run four-day week trials, or make the permanent transition to reduced hour, productivity focused working.

Their approach is based on the 100-80-100™ principle designed by Lockhart alongside the Perpetual Guardian trial in 2018 – 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to delivering 100% of the output.

This model is proven to deliver both improved company productivity, efficiency and performance, alongside greater employee wellbeing, engagement, and work-life balance. Research from leading international academics suggest the four-day working week can be a truly triple-dividend policy: better for the economy, better for society, and better for the environment.

Initially established as a networking community for like-minded people and organizations interested in exploring the shorter working week and as a vehicle for global advocacy, 4 Day Week Global has grown to become the global market leader in supporting businesses and governments who wish to experiment with or implement work time reduction.

The development of 4 Day Week Global’s pilot programme in 2021 has enabled the organization to respond to the exponential growth in demand for and interest in the four-day working week, and to shift to a model which can uniquely support employers and employees to run trials at scale.

The organization has now joined forces with some of the world’s most prominent and preeminent experts in this field, including bringing on board dynamic leader and campaigner Joe O’Connor as chief executive officer, and author, speaker and consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang as global programs and development manager.

Its ambition is to make a four-day working week the new default and reduced working time the new standard. Its intention is to lead and grow the global movement for a shorter working week to make this a reality all over the world.

You can buy Andrew Barnes’ book, ‘The 4 Day Week; How the flexible work revolution can increase productivity, profitability and well-being, and create a sustainable future’, here.