New global work time reduction programs announced for law, insurance, manufacturing and professional services

In light of the extraordinarily successful results from the UK four-day week pilots which have been announced today, Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence’s director and co-founder Joe O’Connor, who led the rollout of the UK trial in his previous role as CEO of 4 Day Week Global, has announced a set of new industry-specific initiatives.

Designed to take the growing global shorter working week movement to the next level, the WTRCoE will be recruiting companies from law, insurance, manufacturing and professional services to a set of cohort-based work time reduction programs which will provide tailored support specific to that industry. It is anticipated that more programs and industries will follow later in 2023.

In addition to leveraging sector-specific expertise and drawing on the experience of industry pioneers of the shorter working week, these programs will also be paired with research on the feasibility and impact of work time reduction for that profession.

Speaking about the UK trial results and these new programs, Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence director and co-founder Joe O’Connor said:

“Today’s groundbreaking results from the four-day week pilot in the UK represent the culmination of a set of trials throughout 2022 that I was proud to play a leading role in designing and delivering. The focus for 2023 needs to be the application of the learnings and positive findings from these trials to industry-specific challenges and contexts.

These particular sectors have been chosen as while they have been underrepresented for the most part in recent global experiments, we believe that with the right approach, there is a significant opportunity to reduce working time in these professions without loss of pay or productivity.”

Speaking about the WTRCoE’s new program designed to support the move to shorter working weeks in the legal sector, The Ross Firm chief executive officer and WTRCoE Quinn Ross said:

“Our program focused on the legal sector can help firms overcome the dual myths: you can’t cut billable hours and be profitable, and continuity of client care isn’t possible when you reduce the work week. We’re doing both at The Ross Firm by utilizing operational excellence and lean system design.”

Speaking about the WTRCoE’s new research project focused on the feasibility and impact of work time reduction across a variety of different sectors, University of Toronto professor of management and WTRCoE consultant Dr. John Trougakos said:

“The Work Time Reduction Centre of Excellence is focused on helping organizations find and refine new and better ways of working. I’m excited to collaborate with the WTRCoE to study and develop the insights and tools needed to create the workplaces of the future.”