Four-day week

Sounds almost too good to be true: Working less for the same salary. In Iceland, this dream became reality for 2,500 employees. What was the outcome?

As part of a study, 2,500 Icelandic employees from the public sector reduced their working hours from 40 to 35 hours between 2015 and 2020. The research team wanted to find out whether they could complete the work in the reduced time without hiring new employees.

The evaluation by the researchers shows that the productivity and performance of the employees remained at least the same and even improved for many. Several German media outlets have reported on the results of the study. We take a look outside the box and take a closer look at the Icelandic field trial.

The positive result is due to the close examination and reorganization of many work processes: the specific tasks are examined and, if necessary, changed or reorganized. As a result, the participating employees have shortened meetings or replaced them with emails, optimized work routines or sometimes even eliminated them. A simple example: If parents gradually pick up their children from daycare in the afternoon, you no longer need full staffing during this time because there are fewer children present. This also means that the nursery teachers no longer need to be fully staffed during this time.

The employees who took part in the trial unanimously reported that their stress levels had been reduced and their health had improved. They used the free time for their hobbies or voluntary work, for example, but above all it had become easier to reconcile family and work. This comes as no surprise: if both parents have more time, they can distribute childcare better and more fairly, which in turn regularly leads to a reduction in everyday family life. This also pays off for companies in the medium and long term.

There is controversy among economic experts as to whether the four-day week could also work in more complex economies. Some fear that work intensification could put too much pressure on individual employees. Others doubt whether the volume of work can actually be managed with fewer working hours. In Germany, some companies are now experimenting with shorter working hours with pay compensation.

In any case, the Icelandic field trial has shown one thing: More working hours do not automatically mean higher productivity. Rather, it depends on a good work-life balance.

In Iceland, the experiment has led to 86 percent of Icelanders now having a legal right to work 35 to 36 hours a week. Previously, the average working time was 44 hours per week.