Iceland’s 4-Day Work Week Trial Called ‘Overwhelming Success’

Are people more productive when they work longer hours but only four days a week? Researchers in Iceland say yes.

A study focused on 2,500 workers — about 1 percent of Iceland’s entire workforce — who were placed on four-day, 36 hours-per-week schedules has found “transformative positive effects of a shorter working week for both employees and businesses alike,” researchers say.

“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,” says lead author Will Stronge. “It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks — and lessons can be learned for other governments.”

Would you prefer working longer hours and being off for three days a week?