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Four-day working week experiment in Esbjerg a big success

Workers in the municipality will continue with the timetable for the two next years at least

Loïc Padovani

In Esbjerg Municipality, a four-day working week experiment has been a great success.

Exactly two years ago, 520 of the local job centre’s employees agreed to test a new working arrangement in which they worked the same number of hours, but on fewer days.

And it was quickly established that enjoying a three-day weekend made people happier and improved their working environment.

“It’s absolutely fantastic. This has meant that my family has a much happier mother and wife because I also have time for myself. It has given me much more peace and balance – both physically and mentally,” one of the employees, Lea Christensen, told DR.

Productivity unaltered
The employees at the job centre in Esbjerg were still clocking 37 hours each week.

Approximately 90 percent of the workers accepted the new timetables, and a large majority said they were satisfied – 97 percent of them, according to a VIVE evaluation.

The municipality is pretty happy with the preliminary results.

As for now, the trial will last until 2024, when the final evaluation will decide if Esbjerg continues with the format or not.

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