Atom Bank, the first bank built for smartphones or tablets, without any branches, and the first digital-only challenger bank to be granted a full UK regulatory licence, has announced it is introducing a four-day week for its staff.
As of this month, the bank founded in 2013, offered the 34-hour working week option to its 430 staff with the majority accepting the new four-day week option, as opposed to the old working week of 37.5 hours spread over five days.
No pay is being cut with the four-day week and the employees can now choose between taking Monday or Friday off.
Atom boss Mark Mullen who has led the bank since 2014, told the BBC:
“Before Covid, the conventional wisdom was you had to commute in, sit at a desk all day and repeat that process when you commuted home,”
“Covid showed us that it wasn’t necessary…I think doing 9-5, Monday to Friday is a pretty old fashioned way of working.”
“We believe the 20th century concept of a five day week is, in many cases, no longer fit for purpose for 21st century businesses,
“Its introduction originally allowed for the establishment of the weekend, with all the benefits for employees this entailed.
“At Atom, we feel the time is right for the next evolution in the world of work.”
The Evolving Working Week
The move by Atom, who had more than 2.7 billion worth of loans of its books in the last financial year, comes as the pandemic continues to shape our working habits.
As well as working remotely, many companies are switching to hybrid models as the work and home lives evolve. However, it was barely more than a century ago that there was a six-day working week. Henry Ford in the US and Boots in the UK were some of the first to introduce a two-day weekend as a way of boosting wellbeing and productivity.
Recent research found trials of a four-day week among public sector workers in Iceland were an “overwhelming success” and helped reduce stress and burnout.
Meanwhile, in Japan, Microsoft Japan said sales rose by nearly 40% during a trial in which staff worked a four-day week on full pay in 2019.
