Four-day week university hails results but scepticism remains

The only UK university to have introduced a four-day week at scale has said it has saved it money, as more institutions are urged to consider the idea to tackle the sector’s workload crisis.

Many organisations, including universities, considered shortening the working week after the Covid pandemic led to a wholesale reorganisation of employment practices, but most never went ahead with the changes.

The University of Sunderland did however start a trial for its 200 staff at its London campus in March 2024 and, at the end of last year, decided to extend it further after receiving positive feedback.

Professional services staff at the University of Bristol are now also campaigning for a similar system, backed by the 4 Day Week Foundation, as are employees at the University of Melbourne, who recently included the demand in their staff bargaining claim.

Supporters say the change helps attract and retain staff, and that employees are happier and less stressed in general.

But critics have warned it may condense rather than reduce workloads, leading to more stress on the days someone is in. And, amid widespread job losses and changes to staff terms and conditions, others believe it is not feasible to look at reducing hours for the same pay in the current climate.

At Sunderland however, the head of HR, Ilona Lewicka, said that while there were “mixed opinions” about it when it was first announced, 96 per cent of staff have since said they wanted it to continue after the end of the initial trial in December, and 64 per cent said they are more productive under the new system, while 35 per cent said that their productivity had stayed the same.

Working hours were reduced from 35 to 32, and salaries remained the same. Staff have different non-working days to ensure the campus remains open Monday-Friday. 

Students have remained at the heart of the trial, Lewicka told a recent webinar hosted by the consultancy People Insight, explaining that making sure that “students were not affected was the most important point that any consideration or four-day week always went back to”, and said the aim was for students to “not know” the university’s staff did not work five days a week.

To date, the pilot has resulted in a 5.2 per cent decrease in sickness absences and saved £72,000 on recruitment. The university’s engagement score rose from 71 per cent in 2023 to 81 per cent in 2025 in its staff survey. 

A petition to introduce a similar trial at the University of Bristol now has over 500 signatures, and the Unison branch has argued that the move could “reduce costs” by removing some of the demand on desk and office space, “allowing the university to end lease costs of some non-university owned buildings”.

It would “bolster and help cement [the university’s] reputation as a cutting-edge employer and institution among staff, students, Bristol and the wider community”, the union added. 

Nathan Street, University of Bristol Unison co-branch secretary, said that reducing working hours “is a clear priority for underpaid and overworked staff”.

James Reeves, campaign manager of the 4 Day Week Foundation, told Times Higher Education that this could be the solution to the sector’s workload crisis.

“The higher education sector is suffering with stress and workload challenges which a four-day week can help solve.”

He said “the research is clear” that a reduced-hours four-day week, with no loss of pay, reduces stress and burnout and improves well-being. 

“Universities value innovation. They can measure impact well. They adapt based on learning. These are all important aspects of switching to a four-day week. By successfully making the switch, higher education institutions can lead the transition to a more balanced and sustainable future of work. The University of Sunderland in London is already leading the way. We urge others to do the same.”

However, Gregor Gall, visiting professor in industrial relations at the University of Leeds and an affiliated research associate at the University of Glasgow, said the four-day week has “as many downsides as upsides”, especially if it doesn’t come with a reduction in the number of hours per working week. 

The challenges of such a system include an increase in stress and exhaustion for staff due to the compression of work, as well as scheduling problems for who has which day of the week off, where Mondays and Fridays are most in demand.

“Although there is normally a honeymoon period of staff feeling a freedom with just working four days, these problems kick in fairly quickly,” Gall said.

“For employers, it may not release them from their perceived financial burdens of having what they see as an oversupply of office accommodation because they would need to have a situation where there is no bunching of attendance in the middle of the working week, Tuesdays to Thursdays.

“The complement to such a situation is hot-desking, which Bristol is implementing, and which most staff find discomforting by being discombobulated.”

This is why, Gall said, there has been “limited progress” made towards the adoption of the four-day week across the wider sector.

But for Lewicka and staff at Sunderland’s London campus, it has become a staple of working life. One staff member told a staff survey that the four-day week “motivates me to work more productively”, while another said “I never feel burnout any more and this pilot contributes greatly to me wanting to continue to work in this company”. 

Another credited the trial with helping them lose weight, as it gave them more time to meal prep, exercise, and pursue their love of gardening. 

For others, it’s about practicality. One told the survey that they were grateful that the four-day week gives them “time to do the ironing”.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com