Sheffield tech boss David Richards of WANdisco hails success of four-day weeks and reveals ambition for four-day weekends

The boss of a Sheffield tech firm says his ambition is three-day working weeks and four-day weekends.
By David Walsh
Published 10th Dec 2022, 04:45 BST
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David Richards of WANdisco said reducing hours and working ‘smarter’ - but maintaining full pay - was the way forward. And he recalled the three-day weeks of 1972 when he said steel production in Sheffield remained stable due to firms finding ways to be more efficient. He spoke out following the success of a four-day working week at the company, with no pay cut, introduced earlier this year. Productivity was up 25 per cent and sales up seven-fold on last year, he said, while the number of staff leaving had fallen to zero.

He added: “A two-day weekend is not enough time to reset. We’re constantly switched on and it takes time to switch off, take a mental break and come back fully refreshed. At the moment, a lot of staff use Friday to do personal stuff like go to the dentist or get a haircut and still have the weekend to relax. I have so many chief executives call me and ask about it but they are too terrified to do it. They want to see workers in the office every day. But the average commute is an hour - it’s ridiculous. By working smarter we can create an extra day. Production is up and our attrition rate has fallen to zero - when you lose staff it’s a killer.

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"My ambition is to move to a three-day week. If you provide people with flexibility it gives them the ability to be more efficient.”

WANdisco productivity is up 25 per cent and sales up seven-fold on last year, while the number of staff leaving had fallen to zero.WANdisco productivity is up 25 per cent and sales up seven-fold on last year, while the number of staff leaving had fallen to zero.
WANdisco productivity is up 25 per cent and sales up seven-fold on last year, while the number of staff leaving had fallen to zero.

Staff were staying put even though some had been offered jobs at up to 30 per cent more pay, he added. WANdisco has also cut scheduled meetings from an hour to 45 minutes to create more time to be productive.

Nationally, a four-day week trial involving 70 UK companies kicked off on 6 June and is thought to be the world's biggest pilot scheme into the working pattern. Researchers from Oxford and Cambridge Universities and Boston College are overseeing the experiment along with the think tank Autonomy. At the halfway point in September 86 per cent of companies taking part said the four-day week was working well and they were likely to keep it.