Workers choose a shorter working week

The majority of UK workers would be prepared to lose a day’s pay to enjoy a three-day weekend, research finds. According to a study conducted by HR consultant www.Reabur.com of more than 1,200 Britons in full time employment, 51% say they would welcome the opportunity for an extra day off at the expense of remuneration.

A further 14% of respondents would willingly sacrifice ‘half a day’s wages’ in order to finish work at ‘lunch time on a Friday’, while 4% state that they would prefer the half day to be taken on a ‘Monday morning’. Some 6% of respondents say that they would be prepared to ‘permanently lose two paid working days’ in order to receive a ‘four day’ weekend and therefore just attend work three days a week.

Just 9% state that they feel ‘happy’ with working a five day week with the standard two days for a weekend and ‘wouldn’t want it to change’; while 2% of the respondents admitted that they felt ‘impartial’.

Sharon Rowe HR Advisor to APA said: ‘Many companies do offer flexible working but this research could add to the weight of evidence supporting the need for even greater flexibility in the workplace and the case for introducting job sharing schemes. In the current economy, with high levels of unemployment, job sharing can be an effective way of engage more people; each doing fewer hours, whilst retaining a viable and trained workforce in anticipation of better days ahead.”

APA