A trial conducted in Iceland over four years - between 2015 and 2019 - has shown that
working fewer hours for the same pay improves the well
-
being
of employees without reducing their overall productivity.
2,500 workers (the equivalent of 1% of the country's workforce) participated in the pilot experiment from various sectors and industries, which went from weekly working hours of 40 hours divided into five days to only 35 or 36 hours spread over four days .
According to the report
Going Public: Iceland's journey to a shorter working week,
published at the beginning of June, the aim of the essay, which was to balance work and personal life without damaging productivity, was more than achieved.
"Employees who participated in short weekly hours experienced fewer work-related health problems,"
the findings report highlights.
In addition, the workers did not need to resort to overtime to fulfill all their tasks.
The change helped reduce stress at home, as workers had more time to
help with housework and be with their family
.
One of the groups of employees that benefited from the trial was single parents, who reported having more time for their daily tasks than when they had to work five days a week.
Archive image of a barber shop in Kopavogur, Iceland.
Getty Images
Another achievement is that after the trials, which culminated months before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, about 86% of Iceland's workforce (out of a total of 196,700 people) decided to adopt shorter weekly working hours.
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In conclusion, the report details,
"reducing working hours can have a powerful effect on labor productivity"
without having to cut wages or company benefits.
Other countries have recommended adopting experiments similar to Iceland's.
Japan, for example, has proposed working four days a week to "avoid stress and boost the economy."
New Zealand and Germany will pilot pilot programs.
The Government of Spain has also said that it will test the four-day (32-hour) work week through a project in which 200 companies will participate over a three-year period, although some businesses have already implemented it for months.
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In the United States, multinational companies such as PepsiCo and Verizon, as well as non-profit organizations, have begun to offer their employees
certain benefits such as paid days off, flexible hours and work outside the traditional office environment.
Project finance platform Kickstarter recently announced that it will pilot four-day workweeks starting next year.
The same is planned by the company Buffer, which is dedicated to scheduling publications on different social networks.
With information from The Washington Post
