Atom bank has revealed its four-day working week has been an “overwhelmingly positive experience” for employees, with improved productivity and job satisfaction.

The bank, which introduced the four-day working week in November last year, said it has seen an increase in applications for roles, headcount has grown and attrition is down. 

Applications increased by 49% for roles at Atom in January this year, compared to January last year. The headcount has also grown from 461 in November 2021 to 480 in June this year. 

It made the shift after recognising that working lives are longer, the positive impact of technology, flexible working and the need to live and work sustainably. 

The implementation of a shorter working week was also aimed to support employee mental health and physical wellbeing, enabling staff to have a healthier work/life balance, while improving levels of business performance. 

The bank’s employee survey also revealed that 91% of people can accomplish everything they need to in four days. 

Atom says it’s also encouraging to see that employee productivity has improved with 92% of people stating that they have found efficiencies in how they work as a result of the shorter week. 

Meanwhile, 92% also said that they look forward to work, and there has been a 13% year-on-year increase in people engagement in February compared to the same period the previous year. 

The survey also showed that days lost to sickness have also declined since the introduction of the new working structure dropping from 100 in the month in November to 72 in June. 

Atom says since the introduction of the four-day week, there has been a positive impact on customer service, with its trust pilot score increasing from 4.54 in November to 4.82 in June. 

In addition, customer goodwill increased from 83.1% in November to 85.8% in June. There has also been a reduction in the number of complaints from 79 in November to 73 in April. 

Atom chief people officer Anne-Marie Lister says: “Over six months on from introducing our new four-day working week, it’s clear that it has been a huge success for our business and our people. We are extremely proud of how our employees have adapted and the benefit it has brought to many.”

“People are rightly looking for a healthier work/life balance, and despite warnings from some sceptics, our metrics and people surveys show that this has not had a negative impact on employees or customer service. In fact, it has been the opposite, with happier, more efficient, and more productive people who are even more driven to help us change banking for the better.”