Short workweek a success in Iceland, worker well-being increases: Report

Researchers hailed Iceland‘s trial of a shorter working week as an overwhelming success. With no reduction in pay, the shorter workweek trial saw public-sector employees taking part in trials that were held between 2015 and 2019. During that period they worked 35-36 hours per week as compared to the previous 40 hours/week.

According to a CNN report, the trials were run by Reykjavik City Council. The Iceland government saw worker well-being increase “dramatically”.

The researchers claimed that the change was seen in a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout, to health and work-life balance, according to researchers.

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.

Autonomy and Alba, the research firm, which advocates for a shorter working week, broke down the data from the trials.

Post trials, Icelandic trade unions negotiated working hours reduction in exchange of their for tens of thousands of their members across the country.

According to BBC, quoting Autonomy and Alda, around 86% of Iceland’s entire working population is now working shorter hours.

Daiga Kamerade, associate professor of work and wellbeing at the UK’s University of Salford, told CNN Business that the trial was encouraging. However, she pointed out that observing public sector organisations that have better working conditions than the private sector could have played a part in the outcome of the results.

“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,” she said.

Kamerade further added that in her own research, her team explored the motivations of working reduced hours. It found that working less is perceived as having more control and freedom in one’s life, which in turn will increase well-being.

This comes as many companies adopted a shorter working week.

Recently, Unilever New Zealand announced that it would give a four-day workweek at full pay a try. Microsoft, too, followed a four-day workweek in Japan in 2019. It said that productivity, measured by sales per employee, went up by almost 40%.