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Date Published: 11/10/2024

Britain and Spain join forces and explore a 4-day work week

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Next year, Spain will officially reduce the working week from 40 hours to 37.5

Britain and Spain join forces and explore a 4-day work week

As Spain gears up to implement a reduced 37.5-hour work week, led by Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, many are wondering if a 4-day work week could be next on the horizon. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) thinks so, and is encouraging Spain and UK to give it a try.

Ms Díaz has confirmed that the official work week will drop from 40 hours in 2025. This is just one part of the government's broader labour reform, which also includes a higher minimum wage, increased severance pay and longer parental leave, but the minister is reportedly now turning her attention to the 4-day system.

How the 4-day work week works

The concept of the 4-day work week is very simple: work 4 days a week instead of the current 5 and be able to enjoy one more day of rest.

There are two main approaches:

Reducing the number of hours worked, to 32 or 30 hours per week
Maintaining the same number of hours, but condensing them into four days instead of five

The Popular Party has proposed the latter option, with a 10-hour workday, four days a week (based on current working hours). This approach wouldn't increase labour costs for companies, but would still give workers an extra day off.

England and Spain test the theory

The OECD has suggested that Spain is ripe for testing the 4-day work week. In a recent report, the organisation noted that Spain's collective bargaining system makes it an ideal candidate for trying out new labour arrangements.

The UK is also considering a similar proposal, with Keir Starmer's government studying the possibility of a 4-day work week without reduced hours.

Does the 4-day work week really work?

This is the million-dollar question. The evidence is mixed, but there are plenty of success stories.

Consulting firm Exos saw a 24% increase in productivity and reduced burnout among its 3,500 employees after implementing a 4-day work week. Spanish companies like Sputnik Climbing and Simeom Capital have also reported positive results.

Among the studies, one of the most extensive, conducted in Iceland between 2025 and 2019, concluded that most companies were able to maintain the pace of work with fewer hours.

Another study in the UK had similar results and recently a study by 4 Day Week Global confirmed that companies can maintain the same results with 4-day workweeks. According to the conclusions of both, by condensing the workday, moments of distraction are limited and productivity increases.

In other words, when we work 5 days, we spend one of them doing nothing.

Spain’s pilot test

The Spanish government has already launched a pilot programme to test the 4-day work week. Led by Iñigo Errejón, the initiative allows companies to reduce their work week to 4 days without cutting salaries. So far, 41 SMEs with 503 employees have signed up, but the results are still pending.

There is national data from a test carried out in Valencia with more than 360,000 workers with mixed results. In terms of productivity, in commercial sectors there was a drop in sales, while service companies highlighted the difficulty in coordinating schedules.

While there are still some kinks to work out, the 4-day work week looks like it could be a game-changer for Spain. With the OECD's endorsement and the UK's interest, it's likely that we'll see more countries experimenting with shorter work weeks in the future.

In other news: How foreign migration is helping Spain grow a competitive economy

Image: Pixabay

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