In Ireland, thousands of workers began working four days a week after joining the country in testing this system internationally.

Ireland joins the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to study the impact of a low-working week European participation in this six-month pilot project. The program is run by 4 Day Week Global, along with other civil society groups and academic researchers from Oxford, Cambridge and Boston College.

Employees of participating organizations are paid 100% of their previous hours of work, while are committed to maintaining 100% productivity. Trial organizers will track productivity, environmental impact and gender equality across participating organizations, and the results of the study will be published next year.

The study results will be published next year. “We will analyze the response of employees to an extra holiday in terms of stress and fatigue, work and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy consumption, travel and many other aspects of life.”Juliet Shore, professor of sociology at Boston College and lead researcher on the program, explains.

“A four-day week is generally seen as a triple dividend policy: it helps employees, businesses and the weather. Our research efforts will help dig into all of this. ⁇

At least 17 Irish organizations of various sizes and from different regions have joined the initiative, 70 in the UK. The plan follows similar programs conducted in Iceland between 2015 and 2019 or in other countries, such as individual companies.

“As we emerge from Pandemic, more and more companies are realizing that competition is the new frontier standard of living and that performance-based, low-hour work is the vehicle that gives them an advantage.Said Joe O’Connor, General Manager, 4 Day Week Global.

The impact of the “great resignation” is now proving that workers across a wide range of industries can achieve better results by working shorter and smarter. “