The case for a shorter work week
One high-profile study in Iceland, conducted from 2015 to 2019, followed more than 2,500 government workers across diverse workplaces that went from 40-hour weeks to either 35 or 36-hour weeks with the same pay. The researchers found that the majority of offices saw productivity either remained the same, or even improved. For example, in the Reykjavík accountancy department, workers processed 6.5% more invoices once they started working fewer hours; at a police station, meanwhile, the shorter workweek didn’t negatively affect the number of investigative cases closed.
That means that in addition to helping the workers, the mental health knock-on effects of a four-day workweek help the firm’s bottom line, too.
“You’re not going to pay costs for employees missing workdays, or being late, or taking sick leave”
says Trougakos.
In 2017, Swedish researchers found nurses who worked 35 hours a week instead of 40 took fewer sick days, which reduced employer costs. Plus, if burnt-out people quit – something that’s becoming more common – the company incurs costs to replace them, and loses the expertise of the person who leaves.
The length of our workweek, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic has been a big topic of interest and it will still be for the years to come until a ‘new normal’ is in effect.
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