Should creative agencies embrace the four-day week?

As the new government runs another trial of the four-day working week, how should creative agencies respond? Three industry leaders share their views.

Do you dread Monday mornings and spend all week looking forward to Friday? Then, find the weekend has come to a juddering halt before it feels like it’s begun. Then you may be interested to know that a new government program in the UK is expanding on a 2022 trial of the four-day work week and offering British workers more flexibility in their busy schedules.

The six-month project will explore various options, including a four-day week, flexible start and finish times, a nine-day fortnight, and compressed hours. The aim is to involve 3,000 employees across 50 companies.

The project has gained support from Unison, the UK’s largest union, and several big firms. The campaign’s director, Joe Ryle, claims that hundreds of British companies and a local council have successfully implemented a four-day week without pay cuts, benefiting both workers and employers.

Results from the original trial show that at least 54 out of 61 participating companies have maintained the four-day week 18 months after the initial experiment. This new pilot aims to build on these findings and explore additional flexible work arrangements to suit diverse workplace needs.

But is this something that creative agencies should consider? We asked three creative leaders to share their views, and here’s what they had to say..

“No: creativity can’t be sped up”: Max De Lucia, co-founder and director, DLMDD

We run a creative sound agency that designs identities and soundtracks for some of the biggest brands in the world. It’s an “ideas” business with flexibility, openness and sociability as a prerequisite for dynamic thought. We pushed the freedom around the company even further after ‘the C word time that no one talks about any more’ and would like to think that today, our team has a pretty damn fine work-life balance.

But for great ideas to flow, you’ve got to have time to go down rabbit holes, realise something is actually a bit shit and start again.

So is reducing the work week by 20% a good idea? In our industry, speaking frankly, no, I don’t. We aren’t a factory that can make its output faster. Losing circa 50 working days in the year is 50 days less to have ideas and turn the best ones into realities.

Creative businesses are totally spoilt: a good idea doesn’t often come to your office desk. You need fresh air, conversation and sometimes a glass of something for a bit of magic to strike. Who the hell would want 20% less of that?

“Yes, depending on clients”: Jay Topham, creative director, Unfound Studio

A four-day week gives creatives more control of their life outside of work and is arguably a fairer balance of work and rest. From the evidence I’ve seen, it also increases productivity during the four working days. Perhaps people are a little more targeted with their efforts, knowing they have a shorter time frame to get stuff done.

We are a client-driven industry, though. If our clients work five days a week, they might need us on that extra day; they may have deadlines on their side that need our attention, so making sure we don’t deliver a weaker service would be essential if we were to pick up a four-day week.

I once saw a case study where an agency trialled a four-day week but didn’t tell their clients. The idea was that if the clients didn’t mention or notice a lack of response or output, then it was working; I believe it was successful.

We’d definitely consider adapting and altering our working hours more. We know that creatives are more effective at different times of the day and that creativity and productivity ebb and flow.

At Unfound, exercise is an important part of our studio and aids our output, so we take Wednesday mornings for exercise, breaking up the week and making sure our teams have an opportunity to get longer workouts in or workout on their own terms.

“We’re missing the real issue”: Richard Taylor, founder and CEO, Brandon

Every human has their own unique rhythm of life. That means that some work better in the morning and some at night. With changing habits based on your life stage thrown into the mix (I used to be a night owl, but as I’ve got older and had kids), I find that early mornings before the madness ensues are the most productive. So, whilst the phrase ‘four-day week’ – framed as being more productive in less time – is a great headline, I feel it’s somewhat missing the boat.

The real issue is finding the best cadence of life to support human beings in being the most productive at home and work. That balance is tricky, and we often see creatives come up with their best work on a dog walk or in the shower. In the case of Carlsberg’s ‘Probably the best beer in the world’ slogan, I believe this was landed on an unauthorised working trip to Morocco. So, empathy and freedom are essential.

My ambition for the future is that there will be fewer dividing lines between home and work; it’s just what we call ‘life’. Creative people need freedom and flexibility to conjure up the best ideas that help brands grow.

But people at the coal face working with clients must mirror their working habits. Telling your client that you aren’t working on a Friday isn’t going to cut the mustard. They’d probably laugh at you whilst saying, “Pull the other one; it’s got bells on it!”.