THE WAY we work is changing. While some would prefer to ignore this fact, external forces are accelerating this transformation.  

Global events continue to have a significant impact on the workplace, from the pandemic that instantly changed our working practices to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the climate crisis.  

Alongside these, we face other challenges including some of the longest working hours in Europe, sub-standard productivity levels and a crisis in staff retention.

It’s all a bit chaotic and we need a serious conversation about what we want the world of work to look like. We must address the big issues of productivity, wellbeing of the workforce, AI, and the climate crisis head on.

This is why I have been raising the issue of a four-day week for some time now. The Senedd petitions committee recently produced a report following a petition calling on the Welsh government to support a trial of a shorter working week and, as chair, I was proud to lead a debate in the chamber on this. 

Our report called for a four-day week trial in the public sector to add to the growing evidence base following trials internationally and across Britain.  

This would build on the growing evidence base from private-sector trials, and I believe demonstrate that a four-day week is not only achievable, but desirable for employers and employees alike.  

Both four-day week campaigners and I were really pleased with the positive nature of the Welsh government response. 

It committed to working through the Wales Workforce Council to investigate the possibility of a trial.  

For those who don’t know, this is the way we discuss work-related issues in Wales, through a social partnership model following the adopting of the Social Partnership Act.  

This puts our partners in the trade unions exactly where they belong, at the heart of decision-making on work-related issues in Wales.

The case for a four-day week without loss of pay is becoming overwhelming. Evidence so far has shown a positive impact on productivity and most importantly on worker wellbeing. 

For me, the strongest argument in favour of a shorter working week is the need to give working people something back. 

For too long now we have seen a drift in the wrong direction including the casualisation of labour and stagnating wages that have failed to keep up with inflation.  

In Britain this has been allowed to happen in significant part thanks to some of the most regressive trade union laws seen anywhere in Europe. 

These Thatcherite measures undermine the very organisations that delivered so much positive change.  

From a five-day week and paid holidays to minimum wage and parental leave, trade unions have made our lives better and I want us to look at a four-day week as being the next positive change on the journey to creating a fairer society.

It is far from the only change we need. Working people need to be better paid and there must be a just transition to a carbon-neutral society and the way in which we manage the move to AI.  

My constituency still bears the scars of politicians deliberately allowing markets to drive change in the way we work.  

In the 1980s the Thatcher government allowed the process of deindustrialisation to wreck lives and communities.  

Shotton Steel saw the biggest single-day redundancy anywhere in western Europe with the loss of 6,500 jobs.  

Rather than letting profiteers and speculators be the beneficiary of change, let’s redesign the working week to best suit workers. 

A four-day week will give them security, better mental and physical health, more time to upskill and more time to spend with their families and friends. 

Jack Sargeant is Welsh Labour Party Senedd member for Alyn and Deeside.