These activities are possible because the company is one of a small number of engineering firms joining the growing four-day week movement. The campaign announced last week that 200 UK employers were officially accredited with the 4 Day Week Foundation (that number has since risen to 209), with 12 engineering and manufacturing firms on the list – including consultancies, a recruiting company, a 3D metal moulding specialist, a designer and manufacturer of gas springs, and a wire manufacturing specialist.
Businesses that make the shift close their doors one day a week or introduce rotas so employees work four whole days or 32 hours across five days. Some open for five days a week during busy periods and four days during quiet months. The common feature is that salaries remain the same.
Companies that make the change see a boost in job applications and staff retention rates, says campaign director Joe Ryle. “That's because all the surveys and polling show that a four-day week is very popular with workers. They are looking around for more freedom, more autonomy.”
Businesses working with the foundation have maintained or even improved productivity, he adds, which he says is down to improved performance from well-rested workers. Other potential benefits include better team cohesion and fewer sick days.
The shift is not always straightforward, however. Some challenges for engineering and manufacturing firms include deadlines and client contact falling throughout the working week, and increased pressure on staff to maintain the same level of productivity in fewer hours.
‘A sudden change’
For Edinburgh structural engineering consultancy Elliot & Co., the switch was designed to “keep it a good place to work”, according to Phillips. It started with a six-month trial last May, with key aims including financial success and buy-in from all staff.
“Not everyone was immediately excited,” says Phillips. “When the trial started, it was quite a sudden change, I’d say, in how you work. You realise, when it gets to Thursday, you haven't got any time left in the week to finish everything. So it really forced you to change the way you structure the week, to be able to actually get everything done.”
The team was “much more comfortable” after three months, he says, and completely used to it after six. Analysis showed a slight increase in turnover during the trial compared with the previous six months. Employees felt they were doing more overtime, but the analysis showed they were actually doing less.
The company decided to close on Fridays, as it was the day with fewest meetings and lowest email traffic. Staff are willing to put more into the four days they work to get the extra day off, Phillips says. “Everyone agrees that the actual time they're spending in the office is more efficient,” he says. “Now, I guess the question is: is it sustainable? And that's to be determined.”
The switch was made permanent in January, and Phillips says the company is upfront and positive about its working days. Architects they work with are generally happy, he says, although they find it “occasionally frustrating” if they have a deadline. Clients have been “respectful” and even apologetic if they are unable to move a meeting or site visit. An email footnote flags the working days, as does an answerphone message that plays if you phone on Fridays. If it is an urgent call, you can press a button to speak to someone.
Selling points
At foundation-accredited Earth Science Partnership (ESP), a Cardiff engineering geology and geotechnical engineering consultancy, the four-day week is rooted in the ‘Credit Crunch’ of 2008. As construction development work ground to a halt, the company switched to a four-day week with a pro rata reduction in pay “just so we could ride the storm, basically,” says director Matthew Eynon.
The system was in place for a few months, during which the firm avoided redundancies and focused on efficiency and output. When the Covid-19 pandemic brought similar challenges, they implemented the same measures.
As that uncertainty abated after a couple of months, the directors decided to try the four-day week with pay at full levels. “People seemed to be working efficiently, so we said, ‘Let's try it and see how it goes for a year’ – and it went quite well. Efficiency improved and that meant that income, turnover, didn't decrease,” says Eynon.
As the pandemic came to an end, they decided to make it permanent and “haven't really looked back since”.
Eynon splits his hours across five days, but most staff are split into two cohorts, which take it in turns having Monday or Friday off over six- to 12-week periods. The director says the company, which mostly works for local authorities and housebuilders, has improved staff retention as a result.
The firm considers the four-day week to be one of its unique selling points in the industry. It has also transitioned to become an employee-owned company in the last year.
Changing the work-life balance
While the switch can bring benefits, it does not work for every company. Engineering and industrial supplies company Allcap told the BBC that a trial of a nine-day fortnight increased pressure on employees, and the company struggled to find cover on workers’ rest days. It reportedly ended a six-month trial two months early at its main trade sites, although it was able to continue at its warehouse and manufacturing centres.
Some people in engineering value the “always available mentality”, says ESP’s Eynon. “I think there's a perception that if you work on only four days, then you're less available. But as a team, we're just as available. I think it's changing attitudes – you know that that takes time.”
Phillips at Elliot & Co. thinks more engineering companies will consider the change in the coming years. “I don't think there's anything particularly difficult for an engineering firm about it,” he says.
With an annual shortfall of up to 59,000 engineers and technicians in the UK, some companies might see it as a way to attract young workers, who increasingly value work-life balance over pay.
As AI is increasingly introduced in the workplace, foundation director Ryle says companies should consider reducing working hours to ensure it is implemented in a way that benefits workers.
“We've already had huge improvements in technological advances, which have made the workplace a lot more productive than we were decades ago. But, at the same time, working hours haven't really reduced accordingly,” he says.
“This is a change which is long overdue… we should be utilising all these new technologies to be improving people's lives, which is giving people better work-life balance and reducing working hours.”
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.