Struggling to recruit and retain employees? The four-day work week might be the answer

Trying to pull and clasp workers? Forget pizza parties and nap pods. Companies successful the U.K. are looking astatine a much promising solution: the four-day enactment week.

"Visits to our recruitment leafage person gone up by 60% and enquiries to the institution person gone up by 534%," Helen Brittain, quality resources manager astatine biology consultancy Tyler Grange, told CNBC's Make It.

The institution is among those taking portion successful the U.K.'s proceedings for a four-day enactment week. Since implementing a shorter moving week, the steadfast has noticed a immense quality erstwhile it comes to recruitment and retainment of employees.

"The involvement that radical are showing successful the institution is amazing," Brittain said.

Tyler Grange isn't the lone institution that has noticed a difference. Gaming-focused communications consultancy The Story Mob is different one, according to its laminitis and co-CEO Anna Rozwandowicz.

"We person decidedly seen an summation successful involvement from occupation seekers," she said, adding that soon aft shifting to the four-day enactment week, the squad was capable to capable a presumption that had been vacant for a agelong time.

Britain's four-day enactment week proceedings is the largest of its benignant truthful far, and has had widely affirmative reactions from employees and companies taking part. The thought down it is simple: Workers purpose for the aforesaid levels of productivity and output successful 20% little time, for 100% of their pay.

The 4 Day Week Global campaign has besides started a proceedings successful Australia and New Zealand and is readying to grow successful the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa passim 2022 and 2023.

For acquisition exertion steadfast Bedrock Learning, making recruitment and retention easier was a cardinal operator for shifting to a four-day enactment week.

"Being brutally honest, it is simply a retention and recruitment piece," its CEO and laminitis Aaron Leary told CNBC's Make It. "It has been precise overmuch an employee's marketplace done the pandemic and there's been a batch of movement, a batch of changing and Bedrock was besides benignant of susceptible to that," helium added.

Like galore different companies, Bedrock Learning struggled with the Great Resignation and the displacement to flexible working, which made maintaining a institution civilization much hard portion making it easier to power jobs. In aboriginal 2022, occupation vacancies besides deed an all-time precocious successful the U.K., according to the country's Office for National Statistics, expanding contention for workers and truthful making recruitment harder.

Marketing bureau Loud Mouth Media, besides portion of the four-day enactment week trial, was besides affected. "That's wherefore we got involved," said Managing Director Mark Haslam.

"During Covid our guys were conscionable getting tapped up, left, close and centre," helium says, adding that contention for endowment besides intensified arsenic companies started adding caller perks for employees.

The displacement to the four-day enactment week has been crippled changing for some companies.

"I would accidental things person wholly benignant of stabilised compared to what they were successful presumption of similar retention," Bedrock Learning's Leary said, adding that lone 1 worker has resigned since June, erstwhile the proceedings began.  

Over astatine Loud Mouth Media, Haslam besides noticed large changes successful some recruitment and retention.

"I would accidental our applications person doubled. We get a batch much advertisement hoc applications," helium said. "Our retention of unit went up from 80% to 98%."

However, the surge successful applications doesn't needfully marque it immoderate easier to find the close candidate, Haslam said.

"If idiosyncratic comes to maine and says I privation to enactment for you due to the fact that you bash a four-day week, we don't entertain them remotely. Because it's not a genuine operator for idiosyncratic and that conscionable means idiosyncratic wants to enactment less, you know, it makes you benignant of question their ethics," helium says.

Haslam said helium wants to prosecute candidates who are aligned with the company's values and goals, and that goes beyond the four-day week.

Tyler Grange has had akin experiences.

"We get an atrocious batch of radical use due to the fact that we're a four-day week proceedings institution and not due to the fact that they've got the close accomplishment that we would really beryllium looking for successful our business," said Human Resources Director Brittain.

The firm's managing manager Simon Ursell agrees. "There aren't that galore applicants that are applying specifically for the roles we want," helium said. Even with the four-day enactment week, it remains hard to capable immoderate roles and find suitable candidates arsenic the occupation marketplace remains tough, helium added.

"So, it's not the panacea."