Iceland has tested a working day of only 35 to 36 hours per week (allowing four days work) which is now considered "a success" as there has been no drop in productivity despite less working time per week.

After two test periods, 86% of Iceland's working population is already working fewer hours, with no income cuts.

According to the Portuguese newspaper "Diário de Notícias," the trials were conducted by the Icelandic government in the country's capital city, Reykjavik, ran from 2015 to 2019 and involved about 2,500 workers (1% of the country's working population), subjected to a 35 to 36-hour weekly schedule with no pay cuts, instead of the typical 40-hour workweek.

The resultsThe study by the Icelandic Association for Sustainability and Democracy and the Autonomy group shows that there was no drop in productivity during this period. According to the researchers, the workers were less affected by stress and their well-being increased dramatically.

For the Icelandic government, reducing working hours while maintaining normal service levels meant redefining how some activities were performed by reducing meetings, relying on communication via e-mail or other digital tools, changing shifts, and eliminating unnecessary tasks.

The reductions in hours, meanwhile, were negotiated between 2019 and 2021 covering already at this point some 86% of Icelandic workers, who were able to work fewer hours or the right to negotiate such a possibility with their employers, thanks to demands by the country's trade unions.

Will Stronge, research director at British consultancy Autonomy, said that this study "shows that the world's largest experiment in reducing working hours in the public sector has, by all measures, been a success" and that "other governments can learn something" from the process.