- A trial study in Iceland found that a shortened workweek led to better outcomes for both workers and employers alike.
- The trial trimmed people’s work hours without trimming their pay to see how it would affect their health and productivity.
- Employees reported a “dramatic” improvement in their well-being, and according to employers, productivity improved or remained the same in a majority of cases.
Josh K. Elliott from Global News writes:
“Less is more in Iceland, where a shortened workweek led to better outcomes for workers and employers alike, according to new study results.
The trial involved trimming people’s work hours without trimming their pay, in order to see how it would affect their health, happiness and productivity.
Iceland rolled out the trial to 2,500 workers across a variety of industries from 2015 to 2019, as part of an experiment run by the U.K.-based think tank Autonomy and Iceland’s Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda). The test group amounts to roughly one per cent of the tiny island nation’s population.
Many employers cut their workweek from 40 hours to 35 or 36, Alda said. Workplaces also specifically focused on being more efficient during their limited hours by cutting meetings, altering work patterns and re-organizing shift work.
Employees reported a “dramatic” improvement in their well-being, including lower stress and a better work-life balance over the trial period, researchers said. Productivity improved or remained the same in a majority of cases, employers said.
“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,” Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, said in a statement…”
See full story here.
Categories: Business, International, Labor
Economic Left 
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