Iceland had come up with a 4-day work week trial and it has been an “overwhelming success”. It has proved to increase productivity with a maintained pay. According to the researchers, In Iceland with the majority of the labour force switching to work fewer hours without affecting their productivity.
The study and the action-plan
A study was conducted between 2015 and 2019 in the Iceland national government and capital Reykjavík’s City Council, part of which over 2,500 workers, about 1% of the Nordic nation’s working population.
They were paid the same as before but for fewer hours in duty, a report by U.K.-based think tank Autonomy and Iceland’s Association for Sustainable Democracy.
Productivity levels rose or remained the same in the majority of the workplaces, researchers said. Following the success of the study, a number of similar trials have begun across the world, including in Spain and New Zealand. The study noted that most people shifted from a work week of about 40 hours to one of 35-36 hours.
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How the plan can been followed in action?
The productivity levels could be managed with the help of rearranged shifts, junking unnecessary tasks, evolving methods to complete tasks with greater speed, reducing length of meetings and in some cases replacing meetings with e-mails.
Eventually, more sectors in Iceland were involved in the four-day week schedule starting with pre-schools, offices, social service providers and hospitals. Presently, 86% of Iceland’s workforce is either working fewer hours for the same pay or they are gaining the right to do so.
Benefits of the 4-day work week
The study findings noted that workers benefit with the feeling of less stress, reduced risk of burnout, improved overall health, better work-life balance, and more time with families, for hobbies and for household chores.
Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, said that-
“This study shows that the world’s largest ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success. It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks, and lessons can be learned for other governments.”
Gudmundur Haraldsson, a researcher at Alda, said that-
“The Icelandic shorter working week journey tells us that not only are it possible to work less in modern times, but that progressive change is possible too.”
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Other countries and companies looking forward to adapt this plan
Spain is piloting a four-day week for companies as part of the new management rules during the coronavirus pandemic.
British multinational consumer goods company Unilever is conducting a similar study in New Zealand, where workers can reduce their duty hours by up to 20% without any reduction in pay. Other companies have also started implementing this action-plan with shorter working hours.
In the United States, companies of all sizes, from PepsiCo and Verizon to non-profit organizations, are dealing with the risk of burnout by offering pandemic benefits to employees, including increased paid time off, flexible work schedules and remote work.
