Campaign group to launch business supports for companies to trial shorter working weeks

Four Day Week Ireland wants to build on the more flexible working practices introduced during the pandemic

Researchers will assess how the shorter work week impacts productivity, wellbeing, job satisfaction, environmental footprint and household division of labour. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Four Day Week Ireland, a group advocating for the reduction of the working week, said it planned to launch business support packages later this month designed to encourage Irish companies to trial shorter weeks.

The campaign, which includes Fórsa trade union, the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Friends of the Earth Ireland, is seeking companies to take part in a co-ordinated, country-wide pilot of a reduced working week.

“In the last year we have seen radical shifts in our working practices. It’s clear that more flexible ways of working are here to stay,” Joe O’Connor, director of campaigning at Fórsa, told the Business Post.