Study: Reducing the number of working days per week increases productivity

Since ancient times, man has devoted his life to working all day and sometimes even nights, but the Industrial Revolution made some adjustments in the lives of workers, so that they work 16 hours a day and 6 days a week.

But the changes taking place in society, lead to a change in the approved standards as well. The struggle of the world’s workers at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries over a system of eight-hour work, paid vacation, and two days off per week was crowned with success. These have become the norm nowadays, which is to work 8 hours a day, or 40 hours a week, in all developed countries.
But human life is constantly changing, so many countries are considering the possibility of reducing the number of working hours per week, either by reducing the number of working days to four or reducing the length of the daily working period. This measure is supposed to give more time for workers to devote themselves to their hobbies and families. In return, this is expected to improve their performance.

The British Research Center Autonomy has prepared a detailed report on the results of two large experiments to reduce working hours conducted in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, which began in 2015 and 2017, involving 2,500 workers (workers and employees) in Iceland. One involved reducing working hours to 35 hours per week or 36 hours while maintaining the same salary.

During this five-year experience, all the pros and cons of reducing working hours were evaluated.

The researchers note, that they did not find any downsides to this process. Workers are very comfortable, and labor productivity has never decreased in all workplaces, but rather increased in some of them.

These results confirmed the Icelandic trade unions’ proposal to permanently reduce working hours. Currently, 86 percent of workers in Iceland work, or are entitled to, less than 40 hours a week.

Will Strong, Director of Research at the Autonomy Center, says, “This study has shown that the world’s largest work-hour reduction experiments have been very successful. It does to other countries as well.”

The researchers point out, that there is no reason to be surprised by the workers’ satisfaction with this experience. What is surprising, however, is that their performance has improved, as their productivity has remained stable and in some places has increased.

It should be noted that there are several studies conducted in European countries during the years 2005-2015 that had similar results, and demonstrated a direct relationship between productivity and the length of the working day. The longer the working day, the lower the worker’s productivity and vice versa.

Source: Vesti. Row