When South Cambridgeshire DC first trialled a four-day week in early 2023, we were driven not by novelty but by necessity.
We were a council under pressure. Recruitment in critical services like planning, waste collection, and in technical roles was at crisis point. We were only managing to fill 8 out of every 10 vacancies, and in some areas as low as 5 out of 10. And where we did recruit, we often saw staff move on quickly; often to the private sector, where pay was considerably higher. This revolving door of recruitment was pushing up our costs, increasing our reliance on agency workers, and impacting services for residents.
