>> week/freepik
According to a study published on Friday, Iceland's economy is ahead of most European countries. And it came after the nationwide introduction of a reduced work week without loss of wages.
Between 2020 and 2022, 51% of workers in the country accepted the offer of reduced working hours, including a four-day week, according to two think tanks, and say that today this figure is likely to be even higher, writes CNN.
Last year, Iceland saw faster economic growth than most European countries and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, according to the Institute for Autonomy in Great Britain and the Icelandic Association for Sustainable Development and Democracy (Alda).
This study shows a true success story: short-time work has become widespread in Iceland… and the economy is strong on a number of measures,
Gudmundur D. Haraldsson, a researcher at Alda, said in a statement.
In two large experiments between 2015 and 2019, public sector workers in Iceland worked 35 to 36 hours a week without pay cuts. Many participants previously worked 40 hours a week.
People work less and feel better/Photo by freepik
2,500 people took part in the tests – more than 1% of the able-bodied population of Iceland at the time – and they aimed to maintain or increase productivity while improving work-life balance. The researchers found that productivity remained the same or improved in most workplaces, while employee well-being increased “dramatically” across a range of measures: from perceived stress and burnout to health and work-life balance .
Following the ordeal, Icelandic unions have agreed to cut working hours for tens of thousands of their members across the country.