The four-day week, one year later

A year ago a logistics firm in the north cut its working week to four days with no loss in pay. Revenue was flat, absenteeism fell by a third and two vacancies were filled within a fortnight. The press release was glowing.

Employees were less sure. Many reported an intense Thursday. Managers found the fifth-day gap hard to cover. One team quietly worked Fridays anyway, from home, 'just to clear the inbox'.

Measuring the wrong thing

The firm had tracked output, not strain. A second survey showed calm in the long weekend and a rise in pressure in the shortened week. Several staff said they would never go back, and several said they would take the money.

A shorter week, like any change, redistributes. The question worth asking is not whether it works, but for whom, and at what cost to whom.