Shorter work week leads to greater happiness, no loss of productivity in Iceland: NPR

Iceland has found that a shorter work week has improved the welfare of its workforce without reducing productivity.

Halldor Kolbeins / AFP via Getty Images

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Halldor Kolbeins / AFP via Getty Images

Iceland has found that a shorter work week has improved the welfare of its workforce without reducing productivity.

Halldor Kolbeins / AFP via Getty Images

As many people envision a future where they don’t have to go to the office, the idea of ​​working less at all also has its appeal.

Now, research outside Iceland found that working fewer hours for the same pay resulted in improved worker well-being without loss of productivity. In fact, in some places, workers were more productive after reducing their hours.

Certainly Iceland is tiny. The total workforce amounts to around 200,000 people. But 86% of the entire Icelandic labor force have opted for or have the right to negotiate shorter hours, according to the Association for Democracy and Sustainability and the think tank Autonomy. This follows two successful trials involving 2,500 workers.

The trials were conducted from 2015 to 2019. Workers went from a 40-hour per week schedule to 35 or 36-hour per week without a reduction in pay. The lawsuits were launched after unrest from unions and grassroots organizations that pointed to Iceland’s low ranking among its Scandinavian neighbors when it comes to work-life balance.

Workers from various jobs in the public and private sectors participated in the trials. They included people working in day care centers and assisted living facilities, hospitals, museums, police stations and government offices in Reykjavík.

The participants explained how they reduced their hours. A common approach has been to make meetings shorter and more focused. One workplace decided that meetings could only be scheduled before 3 p.m.

Some workers started their shift earlier or later, depending on demand. For example, in a day care center, the staff took turns leaving as soon as the children came home. Offices with regular opening hours have shortened those hours, while some services have moved online.

Some coffee breaks have been shortened or eliminated. The promise of a shorter work week led people to organize their time and delegate tasks more efficiently, the study found.

Working fewer hours made people feel more energetic and less stressed. They spent more time exercising and seeing friends, which in turn had a positive effect on their work, they said.

A worker cited in the research cited increased respect for the individual as a motivator. Rather than being seen as machines that run all day, it has been recognized that workers have wants and lives, families and hobbies.