40 Four Day Workweek Statistics

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These four day workweek figures cover the measurement periods and populations identified in the available source material. Estimates, surveys and forecasts retain their reported scope.

Key Four Day Workweek Statistics

The main findings are:

  • Portugal’s 2023 pilot involved 41 private-sector companies.
  • The Icelandic Reykjavík city trial had about 280 participating staff in late 2016 (October-November 2016; Reykjavík, Iceland).
  • In the UK pilot, 49% of participating organizations reported improved productivity at the halfway point (2022 halfway point; United Kingdom).
  • Portuguese employees spent 65% more time with family during the pilot (2023 trial; Portugal).
  • In the long-term North American pilot report, employee burnout was 69% lower at follow-up (Baseline to 12 months after launch; United States and Canada, with other reported countries).
  • Portuguese workers reduced actual work time by 13.7% in the first three months according to the pilot summary (First three months of 2023 trial; Portugal).
  • Twenty-one of the 41 Portuguese companies coordinated the start of a six-month trial in June 2023 (June-December 2023; Portugal).
  • The Icelandic government trial began with about 440 workers in 2017.
  • In the UK pilot, 46% of organizations reported the same productivity under the reduced week (2022 halfway point; United Kingdom).
  • Portuguese trial employees’ work exhaustion fell 19% (2023 trial; Portugal).
  • The long-term pilot report recorded a 32% decrease in attrition rate (Baseline to 12 months after launch; Participating North American organizations).
  • Iceland’s pilots used 35-36-hour weeks while maintaining salaries (2015-2019).
  • More than 1,000 workers were included in the Portuguese pilot (2023; Portugal).
  • The first Reykjavík trial workplace began with 66 staff in March 2015 (Reykjavík, Iceland).
  • At Reykjavík service centres, answered calls averaged 93% from 2014 to 2016 (2014-2016; Reykjavík, Iceland).

Contents

Four-day workweek statistics from major international trials

Pilot participants were not a random national sample.

Describes coordinated starters, not all participating companies.

Government page reports more than 1,000 rather than an exact count.

Peak coverage across two pilots; not a national four-day-week census.

ILO summary reports the halfway-point participant count.

City-trial participation at that stage, not the final combined total.

Initial government-trial participation.

One early workplace, not the whole trial.

Reduced-week pilots, not every Icelandic worker.

Participating organizations were recruited into a pilot program.

Program design, not an outcome.

Allocation is not the same as final spending.

Four-day workweek productivity and service-delivery statistics

Organization survey at midpoint; not an audited productivity measure.

Organization-reported productivity comparison.

Participating service centre aggregate; comparison workplace differed.

Observed range across the participating centre’s period.

Comparison workplace, not randomized control assignment.

One department; report does not establish causation.

Yearly caseload fluctuated and the report cautions against attributing the change to the trial.

Directly transcribed comparison from the report; caseload is not randomized evidence.

The report notes fluctuations and does not attribute the change solely to the trial.

Four-day workweek employee wellbeing and work-life balance data

Headline survey result; wording reports the share, not a causal population estimate.

Pilot pre/post result; exhaustion measure was not a national prevalence estimate.

Before-and-after pilot comparison.

Pilot-reported fatigue outcome.

Self-reported before-and-after result from participating workers.

Self-reported pilot result.

Self-reported change among participants.

Four-day workweek business, revenue and retention results

  • In the long-term North American pilot report, employee burnout was 69% lower at follow-up (Baseline to 12 months after launch; United States and Canada, with other reported countries). (The 4 Day Week Long-Term…)
  • The long-term pilot report recorded a 32% decrease in attrition rate (Baseline to 12 months after launch; Participating North American organizations). (The 4 Day Week Long-Term…)
  • Revenue increased 15% over the trial in the long-term pilot report (Trial period; Participating organizations). (The 4 Day Week Long-Term…)
  • The Icelandic accounting department increased entered supplier invoices by 6.5% (Trial reporting; Reykjavík, Iceland). (Going Public: Iceland’s journey to…)
  • Westfjords Police closed 105 cases in the reported trial year versus 80 in the immediately preceding comparison year (2016-2018 comparison; Westfjords, Iceland). (Going Public: Iceland’s journey to…)
  • The Portuguese pilot’s 41 participating companies included private-sector employers (2023; Portugal). (Avaliação do Projeto-Piloto Semana de…)

Pilot comparison; headline report does not present a population-weighted estimate.

Report-level attrition comparison; no randomized control is stated on the summary page.

Headline result across participating organizations; revenue is not necessarily attributable to schedule change.

Department-specific operational measure.

Caseload variation means this is not a causal productivity estimate.

Does not represent public-sector employers or all private employers.

Four-day workweek hours, pay and implementation outcomes

Summary reports more than 1,000 workers; actual-hours measure is pilot-specific.

Several reduced-hour arrangements were used; not every participant had an identical four-day pattern.

Planned subsidy schedule, not an observed expenditure result.

Planned subsidy schedule.

Timeline count at launch, not final participation.

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