In recent years, several countries, including Spain, have explored the four-day work week.
Spain conducted a significant nationwide trial, but also published the results of a smaller trial, carried out in Valencia, involving 360.000 workers, for a month.
During this test, the stress level decreased by 35%, 64% slept more, socializing increased by 72%, while 37% said they increased physical activity and 46% increased the time spent to reading. There were also environmental benefits: in fact, the reduction in traffic in the city was 9,5%, with a 58% reduction in nitrogen dioxide in the air.
Other nations, such as the UK, have also seen promising results, with companies unwilling to return to a five-day working week following successful trials of the four-day week.
Here too, in fact, productivity remained stable, while employee satisfaction increased significantly.
A question: are the resistance that many of us have, consciously or unconsciously, towards the four-day working week well-founded or are they just the consequence of a habit that, like all habits, is difficult to change?