The four-day working week is a sham

The challenger bank sector has been such a graveyard in recent years that I don’t hold out much hope that Durham-based Atom Bank will ever quite displace the likes of Lloyds and Barclays. Nevertheless, I wish it well. It is just that its claim to have increased productivity by changing to a four-day week does not fill me with confidence. Not only does the bank intend to make four-day working a permanent fixture, it wants other businesses to copy its example. ‘We firmly believe the four day week is the future of working life,’ says ‘chief people officer’ Anne-Marie Lister. ‘We hope that Atom’s experiences will encourage other businesses to make the shift permanently.’ The bank claims that staff retention rates have improved, days lost to sickness have fallen and customer service ratings also improved.

There is an alternative way of looking at Atom Bank – that rather than being a pioneer of the four day week it is simply putting its staff on part-time working.