Four-day week: ‘major breakthrough’ as most UK firms in trial extend changes
-Nearly all companies taking part opt to continue with new pattern as staff report better work-life balance

每周工作四天：“重大突破”，大多數(shù)英國公司正在試行這項(xiàng)改革
——幾乎所有參與調(diào)查的公司都選擇繼續(xù)采用這種新模式，因?yàn)閱T工表示他們的工作和生活更平衡了


(David Alatorre (left) and David Mason of Rivelin Robotics, which said it wanted to put wellbeing first.)

（Rivelin Robotics公司的大衛(wèi)·阿拉托雷（左）和大衛(wèi)·梅森表示，他們想把健康放在第一位。）
新聞：

The vast majority of companies taking part in the world’s largest trial of a four-day week have opted to continue with the new working pattern, in a result hailed as evidence that it could work across the UK economy.

參加這一全球規(guī)模最大的每周工作四天試驗(yàn)的絕大多數(shù)公司都選擇繼續(xù)采用這種新的工作模式，這一結(jié)果被稱為該模式可能適用于整個(gè)英國經(jīng)濟(jì)的證據(jù)。

Of the 61 companies that entered the six-month trial, 56 have extended the four-day week, including 18 who have made it permanent.

在參加為期六個(gè)月試驗(yàn)的61家公司中，有56家公司延長了每周四天工作制，其中18家公司將其變?yōu)橛谰眯怨ぷ髦啤?/b>

The findings will be presented to MPs on Tuesday as part of a push urging politicians to give all workers in Britain a 32-hour week.

調(diào)查結(jié)果將于周二提交給國會(huì)議員，這是敦促政界人士讓英國所有員工每周工作32小時(shí)的努力的一部分。

Joe Ryle, the director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, called the trial a “major breakthrough moment”, adding: “Across a wide variety of sectors, wellbeing has improved dramatically for staff; and business productivity has either been maintained or improved in nearly every case.

“每周4天運(yùn)動(dòng)”的負(fù)責(zé)人喬·賴爾稱這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)是一個(gè)“重大突破時(shí)刻”，他補(bǔ)充說：“在各行各業(yè)，員工的福利都有了顯著改善；在幾乎所有情況下，企業(yè)生產(chǎn)率都保持不變或提高了。

“We’re really pleased with the results and hopefully it does show that the time to roll out a four-day week more widely has surely come.”

“我們對結(jié)果非常滿意，希望這確實(shí)表明，更廣泛地推廣每周工作四天的時(shí)機(jī)已經(jīng)到來?！?/b>
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處


At Sheffield-based Rivelin Robotics, one of the participating firms that plans to continue with the new approach, the chief product officer, David Mason, said he hoped offering a shorter working week would help with future recruitment. “It’s certainly something that makes us a little bit different from the average.”

總部位于謝菲爾德的Rivelin Robotics公司是計(jì)劃繼續(xù)采用新模式的參與公司之一，首席產(chǎn)品官戴維·梅森表示，他希望縮短每周工作時(shí)間有助于未來的招聘?！斑@肯定會(huì)讓我們與平均水平有所不同。”

The UK pilot, which kicked off last June, has been promoted by 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit organisation founded in New Zealand, and overseen by the thinktank Autonomy and a team of academics.

英國的試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目于去年6月啟動(dòng)，由新西蘭成立的非營利組織“每周4天”推動(dòng)，并由智庫Autonomy和一個(gè)學(xué)術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)監(jiān)督。

Companies taking part were offered workshops and mentoring to help them rethink working practices. Staff were given the opportunity to remain on their existing salary, working across four days instead of five.

參與其中的公司將獲得車間和指導(dǎo)，以幫助他們重新思考工作實(shí)踐。員工有機(jī)會(huì)保持現(xiàn)有的工資，工作四天而不是五天。

Since last summer, staff at Rivelin Robotics have been enjoying a three-day weekend. David Alatorre, its chief technology officer, said: “We wanted to instil a culture in the company of putting wellbeing first, making sure that everybody is rested and has a good work-life balance.”

從去年夏天開始，Rivelin Robotics公司的員工就開始享受為期三天的周末。該公司首席技術(shù)官戴維·阿拉托雷表示：“我們希望在公司內(nèi)灌輸一種把健康放在首位的文化，確保每個(gè)人都得到休息，并保持良好的工作與生活平衡。”

Based in a bright industrial unit close to the River Don, the company makes robots that meticulously finish 3D-printed parts for manufacturers, for industries including aerospace and medicine. In consultation with colleagues, they opted to take Fridays off, and extend the working day to 8am-5.30pm on the other days of the week.

該公司位于頓河附近的一個(gè)明亮的工業(yè)園區(qū)，生產(chǎn)機(jī)器人，為航空航天和醫(yī)藥等行業(yè)的制造商一絲不茍地完成3D打印零件。在與同事協(xié)商后，他們選擇周五休息，并將一周其他日子的工作時(shí)長延長至上午8點(diǎn)至下午5點(diǎn)半。

Alatorre and Mason said the change had not been without its challenges. It is a small, fast-growing startup – currently with just eight staff – and sometimes the work will not wait.

阿拉托雷和梅森說，這種變化并非沒有挑戰(zhàn)。這是一家快速發(fā)展的小型初創(chuàng)公司——目前只有8名員工——有時(shí)工作不會(huì)等你。

“We had a trade show that was a big launch for one of our products and a couple of the major parts were delayed. And we just couldn’t physically start the process until they arrived,” Mason said. “There was no way at that point in time that we could have spread that load.”

“我們有一個(gè)貿(mào)易展，是我們一款產(chǎn)品的大型發(fā)布，幾個(gè)主要部件被推遲了。在他們到達(dá)之前，我們無法實(shí)際啟動(dòng)這一過程。在那種時(shí)候，我們不可能分散這種負(fù)荷?！?/b>

He added that while it was “quite common that we’ll be contacted on a Friday” he emphasised that he, Alatorre and the firm’s founder, Robert Bush, tended to take the strain when that happens.

他補(bǔ)充說，雖然“周五有人聯(lián)系我們很常見”，但他強(qiáng)調(diào)，當(dāng)這種情況發(fā)生時(shí)，他、阿拉托雷和公司創(chuàng)始人羅伯特·布什往往會(huì)挑起負(fù)擔(dān)。

“It’s nice to have the flexibility though, which makes the biggest difference to me personally, that Friday, even though I may end up working some of it, I can be at home, walk the dog, go climbing.”

“有靈活性很好，這對我個(gè)人來說是最大的不同，周五，盡管我可能最終還是要干些工作，但我可以呆在家里，遛狗，去爬山?！?/b>

Alatorre said some staff would prefer five shorter days, rather than four – and the management team are now thinking through how to accommodate different working patterns as the company grows.

阿拉托雷說，一些員工更喜歡縮短五天的工作時(shí)間，而不是四天工作制。隨著公司的發(fā)展，管理團(tuán)隊(duì)正在考慮如何適應(yīng)不同的工作模式。

In total, about 2,900 employees across the UK have taken part in the pilot. Surveys of staff taken before and after found that 39% said they were less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% said it was easier to balance work and home responsibilities.

全英國共有約2900名員工參與了這一試點(diǎn)。對員工前后進(jìn)行的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，39%的人表示壓力減輕了，40%的人睡得更好了，54%的人表示更容易平衡工作和家庭責(zé)任。

The number of sick days taken during the trial fell by about two-thirds and 57% fewer staff left the firms taking part compared with the same period a year earlier.

與去年同期相比，試點(diǎn)期間請病假的天數(shù)減少了約三分之二，參與試點(diǎn)的公司離職員工減少了57%。

The vast majority of companies reported that they were satisfied with productivity and business performance over the trial period.

絕大多數(shù)公司表示，在試驗(yàn)期間，他們對生產(chǎn)率和業(yè)務(wù)表現(xiàn)感到滿意。

Charity Bank in Tonbridge, Kent, is another participant expecting to continue with the four-day week approach for its 70 employees.

肯特郡湯布里奇的慈善銀行是另一家希望繼續(xù)為其70名員工實(shí)行四天工作制的參與者。

The social lender chose to offer people either a Monday or a Friday off, and the pilot supported them with what the bank’s chief executive, Ed Siegel, calls “a crash course in productivity improvements”.

這家社交貸款機(jī)構(gòu)選擇為員工提供周一或周五的假期，該試點(diǎn)為他們提供了銀行首席執(zhí)行官埃德·西格爾所說的“提高生產(chǎn)力的速成班”。

“I would say that for roughly two-thirds of our team, it’s been fantastic – it’s been amazingly successful. They have successfully transitioned to working four days a week and they love it. It has really moved the dial on the mood, and people are like, ‘Wow, that’s a great organisation I’m working for here.’”

“我想說，對于我們團(tuán)隊(duì)中大約三分之二的人來說，這是非常棒的，是非常成功的。他們已經(jīng)成功地轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐恢芄ぷ魉奶?，而且他們熱愛這份工作。這真的改變了人們的情緒，人們會(huì)說，‘哇，我為之工作的這家公司真棒。’”

For the others, some of whom are senior staff used to putting in long hours throughout the week, Siegel said the bank was “trying to say to those folks – and by the way, I’m one of those folks – ‘Let’s just be clear, this is your choice. If you want to work four days a week, we want to support you to get there.’”

至于其他人，其中一些人是已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了每周長時(shí)間工作的高級員工，西格爾說，銀行“試圖對這些人說——順便說一句，我也是其中之一——‘讓我們明確一點(diǎn)，這是你的選擇。如果你想每周工作四天，我們會(huì)支持你實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)。’”

At the Royal Society of Biology, in London, its 38 employees now take either a Monday or a Friday off, and the working day has been extended from seven hours to eight.

在倫敦的皇家生物學(xué)會(huì)， 38名員工現(xiàn)在在周一或周五休息，每天的工作時(shí)間也從7小時(shí)延長到了8小時(shí)。

Its chief executive, Mark Downs, said rethinking the way the organisation does its job had been crucial. “There’s no way that you can reduce your working hours and maintain productivity and not do things differently.”

該組織首席執(zhí)行官馬克·唐斯表示，重新思考該組織的工作方式至關(guān)重要?！澳悴豢赡茉跍p少工作時(shí)間的同時(shí)保持工作效率，而不改變做事方式?！?/b>

Downs said sometimes flexibility was needed from staff, to attend essential meetings on their non-working day, for example – but surveys of employees during the pilot had produced a resounding result.

唐斯說，有時(shí)員工需要靈活性，例如在非工作時(shí)間參加重要會(huì)議，但試點(diǎn)期間對員工的調(diào)查產(chǎn)生了令人信服的結(jié)果。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處


“I have to say, without exaggerating, it is the most positive response I think I’ve ever had to any staff survey. It was unanimously popular. Everybody was very, very supportive of it.” When he asked the RSB’s stakeholders whether they had noticed any diminution in service, “The answer was, absolutely not.”

“我不得不說，毫不夸張地說，這是我對員工調(diào)查得到的最積極的回應(yīng)。它受到了一致的歡迎。每個(gè)人都非常非常支持。”當(dāng)他問皇家生物學(xué)會(huì)的服務(wù)對象是否注意到服務(wù)的減少時(shí)，“答案是，絕對沒有。”

The 4 Day Week Campaign has said it would now like to see many more employers take the plunge, and is lobbying the government to encourage change legislating to give staff the right to request a four-day pattern.

“每周4天運(yùn)動(dòng)”組織表示，他們希望看到更多的雇主嘗試這一嘗試，并正在游說政府鼓勵(lì)立法改變，給予員工要求四天工作制的權(quán)利。

Ryle, of the campaign, said: “The economy doesn’t need us to be working five days a week any more. It was 100 years ago, the shift to a five-day week, and the economy’s transformed since then.”

活動(dòng)團(tuán)隊(duì)的賴爾說：“經(jīng)濟(jì)不再需要我們每周工作五天。實(shí)行五天工作制是100年前的事了，自那時(shí)起經(jīng)濟(jì)已經(jīng)發(fā)生了轉(zhuǎn)變?！?br />