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by VSerge 405 days ago
Can't help but notice that their reduced 4-days work week still is 36h long. 9h work days would be considered long in most European countries, where the norm is around 40h for a five-days work week. So they are not just cutting a day, they are also working 1 hour more than average on each other day. This probably explains a lot in terms of productivity.

On a different note, the increased ability of men to participate in family life and household chores sounds amazing. It might sound weird to younger professionals without kids, but as soon as you have a child, having one extra day to deal with everything household related makes a huge difference.
2 comments
wiz21c 405 days ago
I concur: participating in household stuff (being men or women) is a huge thing. When you have kids, you have sometimes to meet the teachers, go to a doctor, do some adminsitrative work. Having a day for that (even if working a bit more the other days) adds flexibility for these tasks to be much bearable
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harperlee 405 days ago
Yes but if the whole country is on that schema, then your options to deal with teachers, doctors or public workers on the free day tend to disappear. Case in point: countries where Saturdays used to be a working day, and where you also had school for kids on Saturday (France and Spain, if I'm not mistaken).
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VSerge 405 days ago
Looking at the link shared in another comment with the actual study, it seems that only 55% of private sector workers are happy with the new arrangement, and that higher satisfaction rates are in the public sector. I am a bit skeptical about some of the conclusions of the report saying for example that the private sector needs to take more inspiration from the public sector, which seems blissfully unaware that the private sector can't rely on tax revenue to pay salaries, and has a very different set of operating constraints.

referring to this: https://autonomy.work/portfolio/on-firmer-ground-icelands-on...

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j45 405 days ago
It makes a case for considering what the work day really is (number of hours given in a day towards work, including commute).

If a greater number of people could access 36h work weeks at 9h a day, and more people got access to 4 day work weeks, with a long weekend every weekend, it might not be a bad thing.

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