A trial of a four-day working week in the public sector has yielded “overwhelmingly positive” results and could pave the way for the model to become more widely adopted.
Workers at two Scottish public sector bodies – Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) – switched to a 32-hour week with no loss of pay or benefits during the year-long trial.
A total of 259 workers are employed between the two organisations, with almost all participating in the trial. In both cases, staff reported less work-related stress and greater satisfaction with their job and work-life balance.
Almost all workers at SOSE (98 per cent) said the four-day week trial improved morale and motivation in the workplace, while those who reported feeling ‘very satisfied’ with their work-life balance rose from four per cent to 84 per cent just nine months in.
Staff with caring responsibilities gave some of the strongest responses to the pilot, with some describing it as “life-changing”.
The trial was coordinated by the Autonomy Institute, which was commissioned by the Scottish government.
Chief executive Will Stronge said: “The results of the Scottish government pilot have been overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that both the workers and employers involved are thriving.
“These groundbreaking results show that the public sector can reap similar benefits, including improved productivity, employee well-being, and work-life balance.
“As the introduction of AI accelerates across industries, it’s crucial that workers in both the public and private sectors experience the benefits of these advancements, and one of the easiest ways of achieving this is by shortening the working week.”
Both participating groups made clear that they wanted normal levels of service to be maintained. To enable this, staff days off were staggered to make sure service was maintained for the full working week.
Both organisations have opted to extend the pilot beyond the trial period.
The success of the trial comes after the Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire District Council became the first UK local authority to permanently adopt a four-day working week in July.
A similar trial period was carried out before the decision, with an independent report finding that 21 out of 24 council services had improved or stayed the same since the new working model began in 2023.
The report also showed that the number of job applicants to the council had risen by more than 120 per cent, while the council makes ongoing yearly savings of £399,263 due to lower agency staff costs.
Ivan McKee, Scotland’s finance minister, said there will be no wider rollout in the government at present despite the positive results.
“While the Scottish government and its agencies will not be moving to a 32-hour week at this time, the pilot has identified several examples of more efficient and innovative working practices which will be made available to the wider public sector to help drive reform,” he said.
