The campaign group behind the UK’s four-day week trial is urging companies to try it out for themselves this August. The newly launched initiative, dubbed ‘4ugust’ (but of course) is a joint effort by the 4 Day Week Campaign and think tank Autonomy, with plans for it to become an annual event. Last month, the organisations released research findings based on their 2022 trial involving 3,000 workers. Around 90 percent of the 61 participating employers continue to operate on a four-day workweek. (more…)

Boots has ordered staff to return to the office full-time, five days a week, starting from the first of September this year. Employees at the company’s headquarters in London, Nottingham, and Weybridge were reportedly informed via email this week about the stricter policy on remote work. This is a shift from Boots’ current policy, implemented after the COVID-19 outbreak, which encouraged a three-day-a-week office presence. (more…)

Ahead of International Women’s Day, new data from Ricoh Europe claims that UK and Irish businesses risk losing out on top female talent due to an inability to support workplace flexibility, exacerbated by a lack of technology and fit-for-purpose people policy. The research, conducted by Opinium and analysed by CEBR on behalf of Ricoh Europe, polled 1,000 workers and 250 decision-makers across the UK and Ireland. Insights reveal a significant gender gap in the desire for flexibility and hybrid working arrangements. While both genders see benefits, 10 percent more women, over half (51 percent), agree that hybrid working improves their work-life balance, compared with only 39 percent of men. In addition, 40 percent of women actively seek employers offering hybrid models, a higher percentage than men. (more…)

The widespread adoption of hybrid working has opened the door for women to apply for senior positions within their companies, according to a new report released ahead of International Women’s Day. IWG’s 2024 report Advancing Equality: Women in the Hybrid Workplace, based on research among more than 1,000 female hybrid workers, found that flexible working had allowed over half (53 percent) to pursue promotions or apply for more senior roles  – which, in an encouraging move for advancing equality, rises to more than three in five (61 percent) of women from minority backgrounds. For almost three quarters (73 percent) of women in minority groups, flexible working has opened up new opportunities that they would not have had otherwise. (more…)