IRELAND TRIALS FOUR-DAY WEEK

From February 2022, Ireland will be trialling a four-day work week. So far, 20 companies have signed up for this trial that will last six months.

Ireland is not the only country in the world to trial the idea of only working four days per week instead of the usual five days. In the United States and Canada, similar trials will start in April 2022.

The brain behind the Irish campaign, which officially launched in Ireland in June, is Joe O’Connor.

O’Connor told Business Insider that they’re “hoping that in both those jurisdictions (the United States and Canada) this will be a kind of first phase trial”.

“Then we are hoping to use that as a template to adapt to other areas.”

While private sector companies are currently the main focus, the campaign hopes to extend to the public sector soon.

The data and statistics that the campaign is expecting to get from the trial will have a massive impact on whether it will be implemented.

Boston College and University College Dublin will support research into the impact on carbon emissions, productivity and wellbeing, compared with a standard five-day work week, reports Business Insider.

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