Reducing work hours ‘offers wealth of prospects’, founder of global four-day week movement says

British entrepreneur Andrew Barnes has been advising the Government and trade union Fórsa on a trial and research project, which was launched last week. “Looking at a country like Ireland, you’re highly reliant on limited industries,” Mr Barnes told the Irish Independent from his home in New Zealand.

“You need to reposition the country. If people are working four days a week, they’ve got a day to upskill or retrain. Government can intervene with that and assist companies to permit that process and be of benefit to society.”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said this week that reduced hours “might work for some roles but it’s hard to see how it would work in others, particularly in health, education and manufacturing”.

But Mr Barnes says that detractors are often “missing the point” by “using time as a surrogate for productivity”. “What you’re saying by that is how we do things today is the pinnacle of human achievement, which is complete garbage.”

The Government is making up to €150,000 available to support research into how a four-day week could impact the environment, gender equality and quality of life.

Mr Barnes has been running a 32-hour week at his financial advisory firm, Perpetual Guardian, since 2018, and said that employee engagement has been “off the chart”.

Campaigns have recently kicked off in the US, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Germany and Iceland, with Japan and Russia even legislating to reduce working hours.

Kickstarter, the US-based multinational crowdfunding platform, intends to bring in a four-day week next year, setting a standard that others may feel compelled to follow. “Your biggest problem is if your biggest competitor does this first. If they do it first, the people in your company – the best people – are going to go there,” said Mr Barnes.

But he warned that legislation, such as the French 35-hour working week, could end up being counterproductive by removing the “sanction” of longer hours incase productivity dips.

Donegal-based software company 3D Issue has been running a four-day week for over a year. It has since increased sales by 10pc.

CEO and founder Paul McNulty said that given the choice between a pay rise and a day off, all staff chose an extra day off.

“I think what will happen next is you will see a certain number of companies looking for other initiatives to improve the quality of life of staff and employee happiness,” Mr McNulty said. “It is the primary concern now for employers.”

Margaret Cox, director of Galway-headquartered recruitment firm ICE Group, said she was a “sceptic” at first, but has seen how a four-day week has improved the company’s prospects since it was introduced in 2019. “I thought, ‘it’s not for us, we’re not big enough, we’re not strong enough, we couldn’t sustain that.’ But you change your mindset.”

The firm has boosted productivity by 27pc over 1.5 years, while sales are up 30pc. And staff surveys show a 33pc increase in employee wellness.

A global four-day week petition goes live today.