The four-day week: Scottish employer perspectives
Analysis exploring employer attitudes towards reduced working hours and current working patterns
Analysis exploring employer attitudes towards reduced working hours and current working patterns
The Scottish Government’s 2021–22 Programme for Government included a commitment to fund a series of four-day working week pilots across Scotland in 2023. In addition to this, a number of Scottish companies are taking part in UK-wide four-day week trials which has seen the move towards a shorter working week become a topic of debate.
The pilots will provide learnings for other employers and give insights into how the organisations taking part manage their shift to a four-day week. However, what is still unclear is the general attitude of employers towards a shorter week, and the logistics of how organisations implement reduced working hours without compromising pay.
This report addresses the knowledge gap in employer perspectives to inform organisations and policy-makers of the challenges and opportunities that come with adopting a shorter working week. The report also draws on data from the Labour Force Survey to understand the current pattern of working hours of people in Scotland. Where sample sizes permit, we include Scottish graphs and trends, but there is very little difference in the patterns found between Scottish and UK-wide data.
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