No Surprises There: Four-day Week 'An Overwhelming Success' In Iceland
As remote work became a roaring success for both companies and employees during the pandemic, it opened our eyes to new possibilities of how we can lead a better life-work balance. We now know that it's not necessary to be stuck in an office building for over eight hours a day, five days a week.
The study?
After Japan proposed four-day work week to put an end to staggering work hours, other countries are moving in the similar direction too. From 2015 to 2019, Iceland ran the world's largest trial of a shorter working week.
An analysis of the results was finally published this week, and surprise! Everyone was happier, healthier, and more productive. Please pretend to be surprised.
The study of 2,500 workers in Iceland, more than 1% of the workforce, was conducted to see if shortened work days leads to more productivity and a happier workforce.?The trials were made across an array of different types of workplaces, including preschools, offices, social service providers, and hospitals.
The results
Productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces, researchers said.?Workers reported feeling less stressed and at risk of burnout, and said their health and work-life balance had improved.?They also reported having more time to spend with their families, do hobbies and complete household chores.
Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, said: "This study shows that the world's largest ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success."It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks - and lessons can be learned for other governments."
The conclusion?
Many of them moved from a 40 hour week to a 35 or 36 hour week, researchers from UK think tank Autonomy and the Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda) in Iceland said.?The trials were an overwhelming success, and since completion 86% of the country¡¯s workforce are now working shorter hours or gaining the right to shorten their hours.
A number of other trials are now being run across the world, including in Spain and by Unilever in New Zealand. The consumer goods giant is giving staff in New Zealand a chance to cut their hours by 20% without hurting their pay in a trial.
In May, a report commissioned by the 4 Day Week campaign from Platform London suggested that shorter hours could cut the UK's carbon footprint.
