Prefer a four-day week?

Most people would work extra hours if they could take a half-day off on Fridays, research shows. Almost half of workers, especially those living in the South-East and Scotland, would prefer to be based at home for at least one day a week. Some favoured starting work at 8am and working through lunch until 3pm, while fewer than one in five were in favour of the traditional 9-5 hours five days a week.

Lisa Page, of Aon Consulting which carried out the survey of 2,000 employees, said: 'People want the flexibility to plan their work around their personal lives. 'As life expectancy increases and the make-up of the population changes, employer attitudes to working life also need to adapt.'