After conducting a 4-year trial, researchers from UK think tank Autonomy and the Association for Democracy and Sustainability (Alda) in Iceland concluded that a four-day work week has improved workers' well-being and productivity.

The trial, which is deemed an “overwhelming success” by the researchers, was initiated by the Reykjavik City Council and the Icelandic national government in response to demands from trade unions and civil society organisations for shorter workweeks. Starting June 2021, 86% of Iceland’s working population are on contracts that have either moved them to shorter working hours or give them the right to do so in the future.

Other countries, such as Japan, New Zealand and Spain, have also tested out this policy. In 2018, Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand-based company, found out that the workers’ productivity had improved by 20% after a six-week trial. In 2019, Microsoft Japan tested out the policy and reported a 40% jump in productivity. The Japanese government has included new recommendations that companies could permit their staff to opt to work four days a week instead of the typical five on the most recent annual economic policy guidelines.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a lot of significant transformation - one of which is the way people work daily. With the work-from-home policy that has become a trend nowadays, people began to search for other strategies to make work more convenient yet still productive in order to ensure and improve workers’ well-being.