STR Group, the multi-award winning, Portsmouth-based recruitment company with 6 specialist brands in the STEM sectors, is excited to introduce a 4-day working week.
At its glittering conference and awards ceremony held at Old Thorns Hotel in Liphook last week, the business announced the new working pattern for recruiters working a US desk. It comes as the company continues its relentless push into US markets, with 30% of its revenue coming from the other side of the pond in 2022.
STR consultants have leveraged the benefits of recruiting into the US market, with different working hours to their UK counterparts of 11.30am – 8pm. However, the Group recognised the commitment of doing this 5 days a week can be impactful on personal and family life, and are therefore offering employees the new working pattern to help with work-life balance.
The new working hours, which will be instigated at the beginning of April, will be either Monday – Thursday or Tuesday – Friday, 11am – 8.30pm, with a half-hour lunch break. Additionally, a new US Centre of Excellence is being opened up where all US recruiters, regardless of brand, will come together to work to share best practice and ensure that colleagues have the support they need. Crucially for a huge majority of the workforce today, hybrid working will still be available, enabling home working for those seeking this flexibility.
To ensure continuity of service for clients and candidates, a ‘buddy system’ will provide coverage at all times, so a dedicated consultant is always available.
“I am really excited that STR has offered Team USA a 4-day working week. We trialled it last summer, which produced some of the best results we’ve had in the USA. This is a great opportunity for us to bring more people into Team USA and show them that you can work later in the day and still have that work-life balance. As a mum-to-be, it’s also really encouraging as it means I’ll be able to spend more time with my child in the morning before work and then on my day off each week.”
Yasmin Hutchings, Senior Recruitment Consultant
About STR Group’s 4-day week
“There is a clear shift in the market and appetite for businesses to move to a 4-day working week. With our continued growth into the US market, which now makes up over 30% of our total revenue, it made complete sense to make a change for our staff working US hours. The 4-day week, which not only makes working a US desk more attractive, will also provide our staff with a much better work-life balance. It will be interesting to see how productivity and results change over the coming months, but it’s worth noting that there is no performance criteria to this change, and it is, in fact, permanent. We are committed to becoming an employer of choice and this is another step in the right direction.”
Brett Stephens, CEO
If a 4-day working pattern and the exciting opportunities provided by the US recruitment market sound like something that could work for you, contact the STR Group to find out more by clicking the link below.
