Almost half of firms that signed up to the four-day working week say they will stick to the pattern when the scheme ends

Only half of UK businesses trialling the four-day week will stick to the same working pattern when the scheme ends.

More than 3,300 staff at 70 companies and charities took part in the radical six-month experiment in June, with staff paid in full for 80% of their working hours, committing to produce 100% of their normal output in a trial that could be British working life revisited.

However, only about half of the participants (41) responded to the survey to explore midway opinion.

Although almost nine out of ten respondents said they would continue to work after the trial period ended – which, at 36 respondents, is about half of all participants – only 15% of those surveyed said that productivity had increased dramatically – while the rest recorded either no change or only a “slight improvement” in output.

Companies have previously said they have struggled with shift chaos and staff confusion since introducing the four-day work week, with executives admitting they doubt the policy can survive a trial period.

Samantha Lozey, boss of communications company Unity, said Telegraph last month: “It is more likely that we will not continue now. One of the things that struck me was whether we are a mature enough business to be able to handle a four-day week.

“The rest of the world doesn’t have four-day weeks, it’s difficult. We agreed that we would go through the pilot phase, but I doubt it will be right for us in the long run. It was definitely uneven.”

A number of businesses and charities are taking part, including the Royal Society of Biology, hipster London brewery Pressure Drop, Southampton-based games developer Yo Telecom, a Manchester medical device firm and a Norfolk fish and chip shop.

The trial is being run by the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the left-leaning think tank Autonomy, researchers at Boston College, Oxford and Cambridge universities, and the lobby group 4 Day Week Campaign, which is pushing for a 32-hour campaign. working week without a reduction in wages.

Firms and not-for-profit organizations are being charged up to £10,000 to take part, MailOnline has learned.

Of those who responded to the survey, almost half (46%) said that productivity had not improved, while about a third (34%) reported only a “slight” improvement and only 15% reported a “significant” improvement.

And further on a scale of one to five indicating how smooth the shift has been, with one representing “extremely smooth”, more than a fifth (22%) did not rate the transition to a shorter week one or two.

Even among those who now believe that the four-day week worked in their favor, the transition was not without difficulties.

Nicky Russell, managing director of water efficiency group Waterwise, told The Times: “It wasn’t a walk in the park at first, but there was never any major change.

“Some weeks are easier than others and things like annual leave can make it harder to fit everything in, but we’ve got a better handle on that now.”

4 Day Week Global CEO Joe O’Connor admitted: “We’ve learned that for many it’s a fairly smooth transition, and for some there are some understandable barriers – particularly among those with relatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems or cultures that originated far in the last century.

“While for most organizations the pilot brings many positive discoveries and results – many businesses have more flexibility and agility among their employees and teams, which leaders often know from the start – there are frictions for others, and this can be based on different factors, many of which can be addressed or significantly improved in the pilot itself.”

Critics argue that the concept would not be feasible in customer-facing employers or 24-hour operations, including where paying overtime would create additional costs for employers or taxpayers.

A trial of a four-day work week in France previously found workers working the same number of hours, even a day less, and companies had to pay them for the extra time.

Claire Daniels, CEO of Trio Media (left), Nicky Russell, managing director of water efficiency group Waterwise (right)

Samantha Lozey, head of communications at Unity. She warned last month that she would likely not extend the trial beyond six months

Some economists have also said that fewer working hours will lead to lower living standards, while the leader of one of Spain’s main business associations previously called it “madness”.

It comes as the pandemic has led to more employees working from home and switching to more flexible schedules instead of the typical five-day, nine-to-five work week.

In contrast, Sharon Platts of the Outcomes First Group said, “A four-day week [pilot] has been transformative for us so far.

“We’ve been delighted to see the productivity and production increase and to be able to make it work in our education and care services, which we thought would have been much more difficult.

“Although it is still early days, our confidence is growing in proceeding after the trial and the impact on the colleague’s welfare has been palpable.”

And Claire Daniels, chief executive of Trio Media, said her business, which had sales of £450,000 last year and is on budget for £650,000 this year, had seen an increase in profits during the trial.

She added: “The four-day trial week was extremely successful for us. Performance has remained strong, with team wellbeing up 44%, along with the financial performance of our business.’

Kyle Lewis, co-director of Autonomy, insisted the trial would provide information that “could support other organizations and sectors considering moving to a four-day week in the future”.