People Want To Normalize Four-Day Work Weeks And I Would Love To Know Your Take

A study in Iceland called a shorter work week "an overwhelming success."

What would you do with an extra day off each week? Participants in a four-year study in Iceland just got to answer that question for real, and researchers are calling it a huge success.

Adam Karpiak @Adam_Karpiak

Employees: a permanent 4-day work week would result in improved productivity, higher profits, and happier workers. Employers:

02:19 AM - 06 Jul 2021

From 2015 to 2019, 2,500 people (roughly 1% of Iceland's population) shifted from a traditional full-time, five-day work schedule to 35- or 36-hour four-day weeks with no reduction in pay. The trial included a wide variety of professions outside of office workers, including daycare staff, hospital workers, and police.

And guess what? Productivity either increased or stayed about the same across the board, employees reported less burnout, and employers were happy with the results too. One manager quoted in the report said, "For me it is like a gift from the heavens."

And a report by the Association for Democracy and Sustainability and the think tank Autonomy says that as of now, 86% of Iceland's population has already either made the switch to this shorter schedule or has gained the right to negotiate for a shorter week.

Based on the great results of the trial, unions pushed for workers to get the right for a shorter week. Um, BRB, moving to Iceland.

And over on Reddit in r/Futurology, people are having a really interesting conversation about these findings and what they could mean about the future of work.

First of all, a lot of people would really like to have a four-day work week, please and thank you.

Comment from discussion Burninator85's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

Comment from discussion Aggravating_Juice's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

Comment from discussion MitaAltair's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

And folks who already work a shorter week stopped by to let us know that it is, in fact, awesome.

Comment from discussion GlamdringFauxHammer's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

Comment from discussion rikkyphlair's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

And one small business owner even shared that they're doing a similar experiment within their company.

Comment from discussion onlyinsurance-ca's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

But others were feeling cynical about how the study could be misconstrued.

Comment from discussion scope_creep's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

And others pointed out that shorter work weeks might not be that helpful for many workers in the current US system.

Comment from discussion pale_splicer's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

And some think that regardless of how glowing the study results may look, many businesses will still prefer the status quo.

Comment from discussion themagicflutist's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

Comment from discussion Willaemann91's comment from discussion "Iceland's four day work week trial an overwhelming success that did not affect or increased productivity, granting 86% of the nations's work force the option of three day weekends for better work-life balance (full study + summary)".

What would you do with an extra day off? Tell me all about it in the comments!

And for more stories about money and careers, check out the rest of our personal finance posts.