NEW YORK: The largest-ever trial of the four-day work week found that most UK companies participating are not returning to the five-day standard, and a third are ready to make that change permanent. The study involved 61 organisations and about 2,900 workers who voluntarily adopted truncated work weeks from June to December 2022. Only three organisations decided to pause the experiment, and two are still considering shorter hours, according to data released yesterday. The rest were convinced by revenue gains, drops in turnover and lower levels of worker burnout that four is the new five when it comes to work days. That thousands of employees adopted shorter schedules is notable given that the research occurred during trying economic circumstances that squeezed many British companies, including rapid inflation, political instability and fallout from Brexit.