Four-Day Work Week Statistics 2026

Iceland's 2015–2019 public-sector trials of a shorter working week eventually included more than 2,500 workers — about 1% of the country's working population.

Autonomy & Alda (via BBC) · 2021 · Trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the Icelandic national government; also confirmed by Euronews overview ('Some 2,500 people took part in the test phase'). · source

Icelandic trial participants moved from a 40 hour week to a 35 or 36 hour week, with no reduction in pay.

Autonomy & Alda (via BBC) · 2021 · Workers were paid the same amount for shorter hours throughout the 2015–2019 trials across preschools, offices, social services and hospitals. · source

Following the Iceland trials, 86% of Iceland's workforce have either moved to shorter hours for the same pay or gained the right to.

Autonomy & Alda (via BBC) · 2021 · Unions renegotiated working patterns after the 2015–2019 trials. · source

The UK's four-day week pilot ran from June to December 2022 and comprised 61 companies and around 2,900 workers.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy / Cambridge / Boston College (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · World's biggest four-day week trial to date; run with the 4 Day Week Campaign UK on the 100:80:100 model. · source

56 of the 61 participating UK companies (92%) continued with the four-day week after the trial ended.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · Independently corroborated by Euronews ('some 92 per cent of the companies … decided to keep the four-day week policy'). · source

UK pilot companies' revenues rose by 1.4% on average over the six-month trial period.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · Revenues 'stayed broadly the same' on average during June–December 2022. · source

Compared with similar periods in previous years, UK pilot organisations reported revenue increases of 35% on average during the trial.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · Year-over-year comparison; critics note revenue (not output) was measured amid elevated inflation. · source

One year on, at least 54 of the 61 UK pilot organisations (89%) were still operating the four-day week.

Autonomy (Making It Stick: The UK Four-Day Week Pilot One Year On) · 2024 · Follow-up published 21 February 2024; 5 organisations discontinued (8%), 2 did not respond. · source

At least 31 of the 61 UK pilot companies (51%) had made the four-day week permanent one year on.

Autonomy (Making It Stick) · 2024 · Original trial had 18 companies immediately permanent; a year later 31 confirmed permanent. · source

In the UK one-year follow-up, 82% of surveyed companies reported positive impacts on staff well-being.

Autonomy (Making It Stick) · 2024 · Same follow-up: 100% of consulted managers/CEOs positive; 50% saw turnover benefits; 32% saw recruitment gains. · source

18 UK pilot companies confirmed the four-day week as a permanent change immediately after the trial.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · 30% of the 61 participating companies at the February 2023 report. · source

At the end of the UK pilot, 71% of employees had reduced levels of burnout.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy / Cambridge / Boston College (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · Employee survey from the June–December 2022 trial of 61 UK companies. · source

39% of UK pilot employees reported being less stressed at the end of the trial.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · Stress indicator from the February 2023 UK pilot report. · source

In the UK pilot, 60% of employees found an increased ability to combine paid work with care responsibilities.

4 Day Week Global / Autonomy (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2023 · 54% also found it easier to balance work with household jobs. · source

Gallup found burnout 'often or always' hit 38% of six-day workers versus 26% for five-day and 23% for four-day workers.

Gallup (The Gallup Podcast, Jim Harter) · 2021 · Gallup study of 10,364 U.S. workers; four-day workers were also 63% more likely to be thriving. · source

77% of U.S. workers say a four-day, 40-hour workweek would have an extremely or somewhat positive effect on their wellbeing.

Gallup / Bentley University (Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report) · 2023 · Gallup Panel web survey of 5,458 U.S. adults, May 8–15, 2023; 82% of 18–29s positive vs 69% of 60+. · source

In 4 Day Week Global's long-term pilot, 69% of employees reported a reduction in burnout.

4 Day Week Global (Long-Term Pilot Report) · 2023 · Most well-being improvements sustained 12 months post-launch. · source

In the Australasia pilot, 64% of employees reported a decrease in burnout.

4 Day Week Global (AU/NZ Pilot Results) · 2023 · Six-month pilot, second half of 2022; 96% of employees wanted to continue. · source

A 2025 Nature Human Behaviour study of 2,896 employees in 141 organisations across six countries found a paid four-day week improved burnout, job satisfaction, and mental and physical health, unlike 12 control companies.

Fan, Schor, Kelly & Gu (Nature Human Behaviour; Boston College / UCD) · 2025 · Six-month trials with two months of pre-trial work reorganisation; gains mediated by work ability, sleep and fatigue. · source

92.1% of Microsoft Japan employees said they liked the four-day workweek in the August 2019 experiment.

Microsoft Japan (via CNBC) · 2019 · Employee feedback after one month of three-day weekends (~2,300 staff). · source

In the Australasia pilot, 96% of employees wanted to continue with the four-day week.

4 Day Week Global (AU/NZ Pilot Results) · 2023 · 95% of participating businesses also planned to continue. · source

Belgium's four-day-week law came into force on 21 November 2022, making it the first country in Europe to legislate for a four-day week.

Belgian federal government 2022 Labour Deal (via Euronews) · 2022 · Employees may work full weekly hours across four days without salary loss (condensed, not reduced, hours: e.g. 38h as 4 × 9.5h). · source

Under Belgium's Labour Deal, compressing a 40-hour week into four 10 hours days requires a company-level collective bargaining agreement.

PwC Legal (2022 Labour Deal flyer) · 2022 · Requests must be filed in writing; refusals must be motivated in writing. · source

Portugal's government-funded four-day-week pilot enrolled 39 private companies.

Portuguese government / 4 Day Week Global (via Euronews) · 2023 · Announced June 2023 on the 100:80:100 model, overseen with University of London and University of Reading researchers. · source

Spain approved a €10 million government fund in December 2022 to help SMEs cut working weeks by at least half a day without reducing salaries.

Spanish Industry Ministry (via Euronews) · 2022 · Companies must design productivity improvements within a year and stay on the programme at least two years. · source

Around 140 Scottish public servants at South of Scotland Enterprise began a 32-hour week without loss of pay in late January 2024.

Scottish Government (via Euronews) · 2024 · First Scottish government agency trial; backed by an IPPR Scotland poll showing 80% highly positive. · source

Wales' Senedd Petitions Committee recommended on 24 January 2023 that the Welsh government conduct a four-day-week pilot.

Senedd Petitions Committee (via Euronews) · 2023 · Followed a Future Generations Commissioner report recommending a public-sector trial. · source

From April 2025, Tokyo Metropolitan Government employees — roughly 160,000 people — can take one weekday off per week under a four-day scheme.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government (via Il Sole 24 Ore) · 2025 · Announced December 2024 by Governor Yuriko Koike to combat low birth rates; follows similar programmes in other Japanese prefectures. · source

Since 2023, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Mark Takano have introduced federal bills to reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours.

U.S. Congress (via APA Monitor) · 2025 · APA Monitor, January 2025; bills target a four 8-hour day standard. · source

The UK Labour Party's 2019 manifesto pledged to reduce average full-time weekly working hours to 32 across the economy within a decade, with no loss of pay.

UK Labour Party (via UK Parliament Lords Library) · 2019 · Manifesto commitment recorded in the Lords Library digest; funded by productivity increases. · source

Portugal has the third-longest workweek in the OECD, with 72% of people working over 40 hours a week.

Universities of London & Reading pilot report (via Euronews) · 2023 · Context cited for Portugal's national four-day-week pilot. · source