Atom Bank ‘committed’ to four-day week
The boss of Atom Bank said yesterday he is “utterly committed” to the group’s new four-day working week after the move sparked a 500 per cent surge in job applications and boosted staff morale.
Mark Mullen, chief executive of the digital lender, said that while it was “too early to declare victory”, results of the trial so far have been encouraging.
The UK’s first app-based bank saw the jump in people applying for job vacancies in one week, shortly after it announced all employees could work 34 hours over four days instead of the usual 37.5 hours over five days – with no pay cut.
A survey of Atom’s staff also showed they are feeling less stressed, with 86 per cent now looking forward to going to work each day, up from 77 per cent.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Mullen said that while the firm is only two months into the new regime, there are “really good reasons to be optimistic and cheerful”. Its initial review showed improvements in most areas, like short-term sickness and customer complaints.
Mr Mullen is initially trialling the move for three months, but stressed the move was a “commitment and not an experiment”.
(Reporting by Holly Williams, PA)