Introducing a six-hour working day would be a good thing, that’s according to 11 million UK workers, who believe it would give them a better work-life balance, improve productivity and reduce stress.
The findings come after Sweden announced in 2015 that the country was moving to a six-hour day after trials revealed employees were happier, profits increased and employees stayed with companies longer. Further insights from today’s UK office workers are revealed in ‘The End of Nine-to-Five’ a report commissioned by TeamViewer. The research highlights that UK workers are overwhelmingly turning their back on the standard 9-5 office life with 72 percent agreeing that it’s not relevant for the 21st century and 68 percent agreeing that working a typical eight hour day makes them stressed.
79 percent of people agree that work-life balance is more important than salary and 82 percent agree that employees should be offered flexibility in how they work without it affecting their career
Andreas Koenig, CEO of TeamViewer commented:
“For the first time workers are demanding how, where and when they want to work and interest in a six-hour working day is just another example of this. Employees now have the technology to work flexibly but many businesses are still falling behind when it comes to meeting the needs of the modern workforce,”
“If companies want to continue to motivate their teams and attract the top talent and fully support today’s workforce, organisations need to realise that they can no longer enforce policies that restrict remote and flexible working. Instead they need to provide technologies and an environment which is beneficial for the employees and the company.”
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
