Trials of a shorter working week in Iceland have been hailed as an “overwhelming success” by researchers.
Public sector employees taking part in two large trials between 2015 and 2019 worked 35-36 hours per week, with no reduction in pay.
The trials run by ReykjavÃk City Council and the national government saw worker wellbeing “dramatically” increase across a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout, to health and work-life balance, according to researchers from think tank Autonomy and research organization the Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda).
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, which advocate for a shorter working week, analyzed the data from the trials.
“It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks — and lessons can be learned for other governments,” he said.
“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.
