20 companies to switch to a 4 day work week across Australia and New Zealand

Ahead of this week’s Australian federal election, described by one major news outlet as the “don’t-talk-about-climate-change election”, 20 companies in Australia and New Zealand are taking matters into their own hands by embarking on a climate-friendly 4 day week. The organisations will kick off a six-month reduced working time pilot in August, with the Australasian trial, run by 4 Day Week Global, giving employees an extra day off per week with no loss of pay. This is based on the 100:80:100™ model where workers get 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity.

A key benefit of the 4 day week is that it is better for the environment, as 4 Day Week Global research partner Professor Juliet Schor explained in her recent TED talk. The principle of giving all staff a weekly day off – whether the same day for everyone or staggered across the workforce – is that it cuts overall company commuting by 20 percent, and correspondingly reduces energy expenditure in the workplace, resulting in a lowered carbon footprint for any business operating on a 4 day week.

The pioneering organisations preparing for the trial provide services across a diverse range of industries, from finance to fashion. They include:

·       Technology firm Our Community;

·       Marketing and communications agency The Walk;

·       Education and business consultancy Haemata Limited;

·       Finance company More Than Mortgages;

·       Health and well-being organisation Momentum Mental Health;

·       And others in the technology, healthcare, construction and retail sectors.

These organisations moved to embrace reduced-hour, productivity-focused working after attending a series of online information sessions hosted by 4 Day Week Global. Many others are expected to make the move this year. Participating companies will have access to a package of support offered through the pilot programme, including workshops delivered by international 4 day week experts and pioneers, mentoring by 4 day week business leaders, networking with other pilot companies and access to world-class academic research. The pilot will be followed by researchers at Auckland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Sydney and Boston College.

The Australian social entrepreneurship body Our Community is among the companies embarking on the trial in August. It creates and disseminates practical, affordable training, leadership and technological solutions that allow not-for-profit and grant-making organisations to get on with the crucial work of building stronger communities.

Our Community CEO Denis Moriarty says, “Our Community has been a traditional office-based company and with what we have learned in the past two years, we are now in a position to implement changes, trust employees to maintain productivity and make sure work-life balance is supported. Most of all, we are responding to the shift we are seeing with employees having more of a voice about what they want work to look like in the future.

“Companies cannot grow, achieve social impact or reach amazing valuations and new heights without their staff. It's time we as leaders find ways to return some of this investment to them, not just in wages, bonuses and equity, but with time, so they can use the rest of those things to build a life they love.”

Andrew Barnes, the entrepreneur who conceived the 4 day week and went on to establish 4 Day Week Global, says the climate crisis cannot be solved without a revolutionary, global change in how people work. “We recognised well before the pandemic that the five-day week is no longer fit for purpose, and as we trialed and studied the 4 day week it became clear that this is a necessary part of the solution to restore climate balance, among many other documented benefits. We simply cannot go on as we have been, and we welcome the forward-thinking companies and business leaders in Australasia who are driving this change and showing the path forward.”

Charlotte Lockhart, managing director and founder of 4 Day Week Global, highlighted the significance of the milestone: “This is a crucial first step in Australia and New Zealand to begin a South Pacific conversation on the future of work and the 4 day week, following the advances made by companies in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and beyond. It’s very exciting to see these organisations demonstrating leadership by supporting their employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance while maintaining and even raising productivity.”

Professor John Quiggin of the School of Economics at the University of Queensland is one of the academics who will be tracking the success of the Australasian pilot. He welcomed the enthusiasm shown for it to date: “The 4 day working week is an idea whose time has come. Experimentation will be needed to see how best to implement a shorter working week, and the recruitment of the first 20 companies to the 4 Day Week Global Australasian pilot study is an important step towards this goal, providing valuable evidence.”

Professor John Buchanan of the University of Sydney Business School says, “In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Australia pioneered reductions in the length of the working day and working week. It is really exciting that we could be re-discovering a spirit of genuine innovation and social progress in this part of the world. Researchers at the Universities of Sydney and Queensland and Auckland University of Technology are partnering with the trial of the 4 day week in Australasia to ensure we learn from the best of what the pathfinders discover and avoid repeating any mistakes they make.”

Employers or employees interested in participating in the Australasian pilot can find more information here.

4 Day Week Pilot Enlists 35 North American Companies and Not-For-Profits to Start Six-Month Trial, as 17 Irish Companies Commence their Trials

Program Provides Resources and Direction to Test Sustained Flexibility in Work

In just over a month the number of organizations in the United States and Canada prepared to trial a four-day week has more than doubled, with a total of 35 companies and not-for-profits now signed up to the six-month trial kicking off in April. In total nearly 2,000 employees will be getting a paid day off weekly through the course of the trial.

With head counts ranging from small companies to large global corporates with more than 400 employees, companies in diverse sectors – from cultural analysis to health information, manufacturing, telco, tech and web design, building and construction management, hospitality, energy, PR, marketing and branding, and investment services – have boldly embraced the productivity-focused, reduced-hour model of work with the support of 4 Day Week Global, as the six-month pilot program rolls out in the UK, North America, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 2022.

Many of the latest entrants in the pilot sprang from a series of well-subscribed information sessions in late 2021, which were led by the not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global and attended by leaders of more than one hundred organizations. The leaders of one pilot participant, global SaaS business simPRO, are so enthusiastic about the four-day week and its place in the future of work that they are donating $50,000 to ensure widespread access to the Foundation’s resources.

The for-profit companies set to undertake the pilot in the United States and Canada include:

• simPRO – simPRO is a global SaaS business providing comprehensive field service management solutions to trade and specialty and contracting industries

• M’tucci’s Restaurants – has several locations and a catering arm in New Mexico

• CULTIQUE – cultural insights and strategy venture: Analyzing and translating culture in a world of constant change founded by CEO Linda Ong and Partner Sarah Unger

• Advanced RV – creating custom, high-end Mercedes Benz motorhomes

• Floodlight Invest – delivers alternative ESG data to asset managers who are inhibited by incomplete, obscure, and biased ESG data

• Seed&Spark – film-centric crowdfunding and SVOD platform

• GillespieHall Strategic Communications and PR - strategic public relations, branding, social media and marketing firm

• Kickstarter – platform for funding creative projects

• Mental Health Advocacy Services – a private, non-profit organization established to provide free legal services to people with mental health disabilities

• WYNDR – provides future of work experts to help organizations reach their full potential by optimizing their people, processes, and technology across the entire employee journey.

• Fresh Squeezed Ideas – a human science-based business solutions and innovation firm

• GLIDE Design – a values-driven web design, development and marketing agency in Austin, Texas. We pair beauty with results to help people who help others.

• OwnTrail – the platform where women visualize and navigate their paths through life. 

• Integrity Pro Roofing Denver – roofing projects done quickly. We believe every person in Denver deserves to have amazing communication and a hassle-free roofing experience

Other pilot participants in the United and Canada are in the not-for-profit sector, and these include:

• Montana Nonprofit Association – provides leadership for Montana's non-profit sector and partner with non-profits to promote a sustainable, networked, and influential sector

• Public Policy Lab –non-profit that works at the intersection of human-centered design and public policy

• USENIX Association – not-for-profit USENIX membership organization based in San Francisco, California that supports advanced computing systems and operating system research

• Healthwise – not-for-profit leader in providing evidence-based health education

• Blue Sky Philanthropies – helping you fundraise more 5- and 6-figure donations for your mission

• Run for Something – recruits and supports talented, passionate youngsters who will advocate for progressive values now and for the next 30 years, with the ultimate goal of building a progressive bench

Irish companies in the pilot program include:

• Typetec – provides a complete range of professional IT services and cloud solutions for enterprise and SMB from a variety of sectors

• Yala – recruitment and employer branding specialists

• Codema - energy agency committed to leading Dublin's low-carbon transition towards 2030 and 2050

• Inviz Box – privacy made easy with Invizbox, you can secure yourself online, all the time, at home, or anywhere else

• Frankli – performance management system and engagement platform

• Stillwater – public relations and communications

• Optimum Ltd – provides training and business services support to companies and individuals aiming to achieve their ultimate success in business

simPRO is a global SaaS business providing comprehensive field service management solutions to trade and specialty contracting industries, serving over 200,000 users in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

simPRO CEO, Sean Diljore says, “Companies cannot grow and reach amazing valuations and new heights without their staff, and it's time we as leaders find ways to return some of this investment to our staff, not just in wages, bonuses and equity, but with time, so they can use the rest of those things to build a life they love.  We have put our weight behind the 4 Day Week Global Foundation because we believe this is the future of work, and our investment in their work will help other organizations globally access the resources and research we will be using in our own trial with our 400-plus employees.”

“simPRO has been a traditional office-based company and with what we have learned in the past two years we are in a position to implement changes, trust employees to maintain productivity, and make sure work-life balance is supported with a 4-day work week model that we are calling Flex4. Most of all, we are responding to the shift we are seeing, with employees having more of a voice about what they want work to look like in the future. The idea of true partnership between the executive and employees resonates with people.”

M'tucci’s Restaurants has several locations and a catering arm in New Mexico, and company president, John Haas says, the team is intrigued about the four-day week and excited to test how flexibility can be optimized in the fast-paced hospitality business. “We have been impressed by how 4 Day Week Global has presented and explained the concept in the information phase and by the extensive resources and support, and we are eager to be an early hospitality adopter in the future of work. People in our industry are naturally adaptable and open to new ideas, and we are looking forward to seeing what we and the other organizations learn from this pilot.”

Charlotte Lockhart, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, says of the US and Canada pilot, “With a target of onboarding 20 North American companies into this pilot, we’ve exceeded expectations – which shows that organizations across a variety of industries are ready to adapt to the future of work.

“This first-phase trial will connect businesses with training and mentoring support from international experts who have previously implemented similar programs. We already have the advantage of a significant amount of data amassed in multiple jurisdictions since the first 4 Day Week trial of its type at Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand in early 2018.”

4 Day Week Global founder and architect Andrew Barnes says, “Following the advances made by Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand and various political and business leaders in Spain, Japan, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland and elsewhere, this next cohort of businesses trialing the model in North America and Ireland in the first half of 2022 is laying the foundation for the future of work.

“Alongside 4 Day Week Global they are gathering and sharing expanded data and helping build a template that will make it possible for many more businesses to trial, adapt and reap the benefits of emphasizing productivity over time – and in doing so, comprehensively change how people engage in the world of work.”

4 Day Week Global is a multinational coalition of businesspeople, academics, researchers and authors collaborating to make the productivity-focused flexible work model a reality. The coalition is driving the biggest change in work since the shift to a five-day week a century ago.

Founders, employers and employees can find out more about the 4 Day Week and the pilot program at www.4dayweek.com/pilot-program