Four-day work week an 'overwhelming success' in Iceland

Have you ever wished for a shorter work week?

Well, trials were recently conducted in Iceland to see how a four-day work week would pan out for its citizens and its industry.

Many employees in Iceland did a trial run of the shorter work week between 2015-19, working a 35-36 hour work week with no reduction in pay. Most of those employees previously worked 40 hours a week.

The study showed worker wellbeing "dramatically" increase, with less stress and burnout.

The trials involved 2,500 people — more than 1% of Iceland's working population — and were aimed at maintaining or increasing productivity while improving work-life balance. Researchers found that productivity and services stayed the same or improved across the majority of workplaces.

Autonomy and Alba, which advocate for a shorter working week, analyzed the data from the trials.

After the trials, around 86% of Iceland's entire working population is now working shorter hours, or have gained the right to shorten their working hours, according to Autonomy and Alda.

Daiga Kamerade, associate professor of work and wellbeing at the UK's University of Salford, told CNN Business that "reducing the working week from 40 to 35-36 hours is a first step towards a shorter working week, we need similar large-scale trials that push this reduction further — for example, looking at a true four days working week of 32 hours or less."

Microsoft trialed a four-day workweek in Japan in 2019, and said productivity, measured by sales per employee, went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year.

Spain is set to trial a four-day week, while other countries such as Japan, New Zealand and Finland have also shown interest in the concept.