A study of a New Zealand financial services company which introduced a four-day week found a 20 per cent increase in productivity, increased profits and improved staff wellbeing.

Perpetual Guardian switched its 240 staff from a five-day to a four-day week last November and maintained their pay reported The Guardian. Productivity increased in the four days they worked so there was no drop in the total amount of work done, a study of the trial conducted by academics at the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology has revealed.

Among the Perpetual Guardian staff they found scores given by workers about leadership, stimulation, empowerment and commitment all increased compared with a 2017 survey.

Staff stress levels were down from 45 per cent to 38 per cent. Work-life balance scores increased from 54 per cent to 78 per cent.

“Managers reported their teams were more creative after the trial,” said Jarrod Haar, a professor of human resource management at Auckland University of Technology.

“It involved them finding solutions to doing their work in four days, so this reflected well. Importantly, they rated their teams as giving better customer service – they were more engaging and focused when clients and customers called.

“Beyond wellbeing, employees reported their teams were stronger and functioned better together, more satisfied with their jobs, more engaged and they felt their work had greater meaning,” he said.