More than 3,000 employees at 60 companies across the UK will be able to work for four days a week on the same pay, in what is believed to be the biggest pilot scheme of its kind ever.
The programme, organised by academics at Oxford, Cambridge and Boston College in the US, will run from June to December, with a range of businesses and charities taking part.
They include the Royal Society of Biology, hipster London brewery Pressure Drop, a Manchester medical devices firm, and a fish and chip shop in Norfolk.
Campaigners say the move will create a better work-life balance and boost productivity, but critics warn it will lead to more stress as employees attempt to squeeze more work into fewer hours, and leave firms with higher costs.
Pressure Drop brewery in Tottenham, North London, is one of the businesses taking part in the trial
The trial, led by 4 Day Week Global, will see staff members from different organisations completing the usual amount of work, and up to 35 hours each week, but split over four days rather than five.
The pandemic has seen more employees working from…
