Workers are increasingly looking for balance in their work weeks, with discussions about the introduction of a four-day work week gaining traction in recent years.

Another alternative to traditional five-day weeks, however, is starting to gain support among both employers and employees: working nine days in every 10. 

Hays, a UK-based recruitment firm, surveyed 3,483 employers and 5,370 professionals in the UK between April and May 2023, and found that the bi-weekly solution was largely viewed positively across respondents, according to a press release viewed by Insider. 

This would see workers clock in nine days with one day off for every two work weeks, effectively working an average of four-and-a-half days per week.

Some 68% of professionals surveyed would be keen to move to a different organization that offered nine working days in 10, Hays' research found. This increased to 72% for younger professionals between the ages 20 and 39. 

Around 28% of employers surveyed have already implemented or are planning to introduce the alternative work week — 32% of which are large companies with over 1,000 employees. 

"Our research shows that professionals are keen to embrace different ways of working, as flexibility and work-life balance continue to be important considerations for individuals today," Gaelle Blake, head of permanent appointments at Hays UK and Ireland said in the press release. 

"Although only a small number of organisations are currently offering employees a four-day work week, a nine-day fortnight could be a good alternative which would take less of a structural shift and is already being implemented, or considered, by more than a quarter of employers." 

Interest around the four day work week has peaked in the past few years as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated demand for flexibility and work-life balance.

61 companies in the UK took part in a four-day work week trial in 2022, and all but five said they plan to keep the policy in place. 

Of the 2,900 employees involved, researchers found that fewer workers quit or took sick days during the trial. 

Generally hesitations around the four day work week center on reduced efficiency and productivity, but working nine days in 10 could offset some of these issues while maintaining work-life balance.