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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.”
Does the United Kingdom have a 4-day work week? No. The UK does not have a four-day work week. A group of private companies in the UK are trialing a four-day work week and there has been a bill proposed and discussed in the House of Commons, but there is no official four-day work week in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Why are people…
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….
Does Spain have a 4-day work week? No. Spain does not have a four-day work week. They have a well-funded, well-publicized plan to trial a four-day work week. The trial has not started. Why are people talking about a 4-day work week in Spain? The political party, Más País, included the four-day work week as part of it’s platform when it launched in 2019. The…
Joe O’Connor is one of the world’s foremost experts on the shorter work week. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Work Time Reduction, a consulting and research organization that specializes in shorter work week models and outcomes-focused working. Prior to Work Time Reduction, as the CEO of 4 Day Week Global, Joe developed the world’s first pilot program of the four-day work week….
What is a 32-hour work week? The most common 32-hour work week is Monday – Thursday, eight hours per day. The 32-hour work week differs from the four-day work week which may consist of four 10-hour workdays. The 32-hour work week preserves the customary eight-hour workday; it simply features one fewer workday per week. I’ve worked 32 hours per week since January 2020, first…
Does Finland have a 4-day work week? No. Finland does not have a four-day work week. The Prime Minister of Finland informally stated that she is in favor of the four-day work and sees it as the future, but nothing has officially been proposed to change Finland’s work week. Why are people talking about a 4-day work week in Finland? Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister…
