This country tested the 4-day work week and its verdict is final

Reduce the work week to fewer days, but have the same workload and receive the same salary. This is the trend that has strengthened in recent years in Europe especially after the pandemic, which caused significant changes in most positions job .

So far, several countries have decided to implement experiments in this direction, and there is one in particular that has become a world benchmark for the success of its tests. It is about Iceland whose model has succeeded in balancing productivity and the quality of life of workers.

The Nordic country’s first tests of reducing the working week to four days took place between 2015 and 2019.

In Iceland’s capital Reykjavík, more than 2,500 public sector workers took part in these trials, representing 1% of the workforce. The initiative involved reducing the weekly working day from 40 hours to 35 or 36 hours, without this having any impact on wages.

Initially, the plan only envisaged the participation of workers in the Reykjavik City Hall . Then, under pressure from civil society groups and unions, other areas were included, such as hospitals, social services and offices.

Once the experiments were completed, the results were clear: the four-day work week was a success describes a report produced by researchers from the laboratory Autonomy and the Icelandic Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda) who devoted themselves to analyzing the trial data.

The researchers found that productivity not only stayed the same, but also increased in most jobs. But beyond that, they saw that worker well-being has improved significantly : They felt less stressed, were less likely to develop burnout syndrome and said the change had made it easier for them to balance their professional and personal lives. details it BBC .

“The reduction of the Icelandic week tells us that not only is it possible to work less at this time, but so is gradual change,” argued Gudmundur D. Haraldsson, a researcher at Alda, according to British media.

Testing has also played a key role in changing working patterns in Iceland. This as unions began negotiating a four-day work week for thousands of union workers. The agreements reached allowed that between 2020 and 2022, 51% of workers across the country accepted the possibility of reducing their working days.

The experience of the Nordic country has not only succeeded in demonstrating that it is possible to maintain or increase productivity without loss of wages, but also that this is possible without negatively affecting the economy.

The reason? Iceland has shown faster economic growth than most European countries in addition to the fact that its unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the entire region, according to a recent study published by Autonomy and Alda.

The latest World Economic Outlook report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) describes that in 2023, the Icelandic economy managed to grow by 5% and the unemployment rate rose to 3.4%. , allowing the country to position itself as one of the strongest European countries. peers.

However, in 2024, it is possible that Iceland’s economy could grow at a slower rate due to factors such as reduced domestic demand and slowing tourism spending, he said. cnn .