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4-Day Work Week Studies: The Overview
Here are all of the studies that analyze productivity, benefits, profitability, employee happiness, and more for companies and countries that have implemented a four-day work week.
Organization
Study Title
Year Published
Key Statistics
Iceland & Autonomy
Going Public: Iceland's Journey To A Shorter Working Week
"Under the plans, an estimated 200 to 400 Spanish companies will voluntarily take part in the project by reducing their employees’ working week to 32 hours while keeping their salaries the same. The government will compensate participating businesses for any higher costs incurred by the changes, such as the need to hire additional staff or to reorganize scheduling and shift patterns."
"Scotland is to trial a four-day week, but without a loss of pay. A report out today includes some ideas for how it could be done, drawing on experience in Iceland and New Zealand."
"Unilever New Zealand will trial a four-day work week at full pay, becoming the first global company to do so in Aotearoa. All 81 of Unilever’s staff members will be eligible to participate in the trial."
Study Details & Statistics
In this section, you can learn more about each completed study from the table at the top. Here you’ll find key statistics and findings from each study.
Going Public: Iceland’s Journey To A Shorter Working Week
Who conducted the study? Iceland (Autonomy & Alda)
Analysis of the results which included 2,500 workers – over 1% of Iceland’s entire working population – found…
“86% of the country’s workforce are now working shorter hours or gaining the right to shorten their hours.”
“Workers at Icelandic Government workplaces that saw reductions in working time experienced improvements in wellbeing at work. Meanwhile, control workplaces working a full working week showed no such improvements.”
“Participants reported a marked benefit in terms of work-life balance for workplaces where hours were shortened, while comparison workplaces did not show such a benefit.”
“A survey taken of the 550 full-time employees at the end of the three-month trial period found 94% of workers and 91% of managers wanted the program to continue”
“84% of employees said they have been more productive”
“86% said they have been more efficient with their time”
4-Day Work Weeks: Results From 2020 and Our Plan for 2021
“Nearly 34 percent felt more productive than when we had a five-day work week, nearly 60 percent felt equally as productive, and less than seven percent felt less productive”
“Reported autonomy and flexibility in May of 2020 was at 4.3 out of 5 (5 being “total autonomy”) – this increased to 4.7 by the end of our six-month pilot”
“Our stress levels in May 2020 (when we first launched the experiment) was 3.3 out of 5 (5 being high stress) – this dipped down to 2.7 at our June survey, and 2.9 in our October survey”
We dropped to a 4-day work week, here’s what happened
Research of over 500 business leaders and 2,000 employees includes businesses that have already implemented a four-day working week….
“Businesses state that these factors are helping them run more cost-effectively. The combined savings to UK business is already as high as £92 billion a year, 2% of total annual turnover.”
“Almost two-thirds (64%) of employers report an increase in staff productivity as well as an improvement in the quality of work being produced (63%).”
“75% believe less rigid working hours are key to harmonising the age diverse workplace and 44% see a four-day working week as the right solution.”
The 40-hour work week is so ingrained in office culture that most business leaders don’t even think about it. But maybe you should. Henry Ford developed the 40-hour, five-day workweek nearly 100 years ago. And it would be an understatement to say that business — and the way we do business — has changed since then. The 40-hour week may still be right for your…
Does Lithuania have a 4-day work week? Yes, sort of. In 2022, Lithuania passed a law that public-sector employees with children two or younger are allowed to work 32 hours per week. Private sector employees and people who do not have young children do not qualify. Why are people talking about a 4-day work week in Lithuania? A standard work week is 40 hours in Lithuania….
If you’re looking to introduce a new, four-day work week schedule for your company, there are really only three existing, practiced options: 32 hours over four days, 40 hours over four days (also known as the 4-10 or compressed schedule), or a seasonal four-day work week (Fridays off in the summer). But since I’m guessing you might be looking for something like the four-day work week to…
<< 4-Day Work Week: Complete Overview Next chapter: Schedules >> In January 2020, a fully remote company I run, Nectafy, implemented to a four-day work week. Therefore, I’ve run a company that operates on a four-day work week and personally worked the schedule myself as an employee. I’ve enjoyed the benefits of a four-day work week as an individual in my daily life and…
What is the 4/10 work schedule? The 4/10 work schedule consists of four, ten-hour work days (typically Monday – Thursday) followed by a three-day weekend (typically Friday – Sunday). Since you’re reading this article, I can assume you’ve made the giant step of questioning your standard work week. And it looks like you may want to learn more about the 4/10 work schedule. In…
Does Belgium have a 4-day work week? Yes. Belgium does have an optional four-day work week. In February 2022, a series of labor law reforms in Belgium passed, one of which gives workers the right to condense their work week from five days into four. Belgium has a 38-hour work for full-time employees. Workers who choose a four-day week would be expected to deliver the…
