How it promotes health and well-being

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Boosting productivity by reducing work hours is about more than just streamlining processes and giving people days off as incentives. The key, experts say, is that working fewer hours makes employees happier, healthier, and more engaged.

We know that working long hours has a negative impact on well-being. Reducing working hours allows employees to feel less tired, cope better with caring for the sick or children, be less distracted by personal tasks at work, improve health and well-being, and prevent burnout, boredom, and depression.

“There is no doubt that when people manage to maintain a work egypt number data-life balance, get enough sleep, rest and spend enough time with loved ones, they are much more productive and effective,” says Jim Stanford, an economist and director of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute.

For example, a 2021 study that followed Swedish workers for a decade found that reducing work hours reduced stress, burnout, and negative emotions. A 2017 experiment showed that cutting hours by 25% improved sleep and reduced stress, and a 1990s study found that a six-hour workday strengthened workers' family relationships.

Shorter work weeks can not only give us time to complete errands we normally can't do, but also help us conserve the energy to complete them.

This is also consistent with the results of the Icelandic experiment. The participants’ well-being and work-life balance either remained the same or improved. Stress decreased, and workers reported having more time and energy to devote to their hobbies, exercise, chores, and friends, while parents reported having more time to care for their children.

The Icelandic report didn't find a clear link between employee happiness and increased productivity, but a 2019 study found that employees are 13% more productive when they're happier. Strong says a shorter workweek helps employees value their work more, which helps with staff management and retention.