[Netherlands] Four-day workweek becoming 'very, very common'

[Netherlands] Four-day workweek becoming 'very, very common'
27 Aug 2025

An economist has revealed that four-day workweeks are becoming “very, very common” among Dutch workers, Daily Mail reports.

According to Eurostat, people aged 20 to 64 in the Netherlands clock up an average of just 32.1 hours a week in their main job. The shortest workweek of the entire EU. 

Across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), no country has a higher rate of part-time workers. Now many full-time staff are reportedly squeezing their working hours into just four days, leaving Fridays free.

“The four-day work week has become very, very common,' Bert Colijn - an economist at Dutch bank ING - told Daily Mail.

“I do work five days, and sometimes I get scrutinised for working five days!”

For decades, the Netherlands maintained the traditional male breadwinner model, until women began entering the workforce in part-time roles during the 1980s and 1990s.

The change led to the so-called 'one-and-a-half earner model' - one parent full-time, the other part-time - a system encouraged by tax breaks and benefits.

Now this model is mainstream with fathers increasingly taking a 'papa day' to look after the children, as men embrace shorter working weeks alongside their partners.

Despite fewer hours on the clock, the Netherlands reportedly remains one of Europe's richest countries, as a result of high productivity per hour and a massive 82 per cent of working-age people in employment.

That's higher than the UK at 75 per cent, the US at 72 per cent, and France at 69 per cent.

The system is not perfect, however, the OECD has flagged that it is holding women back. Only 27 per cent of the Netherlands’ managers are female; one of the lowest figures in the developed world.

Labour shortages are also having a significant impact in areas such teaching, leaving schools understaffed and families struggling to juggle work and childcare. 

Belgium became the first country in Europe to legislate a four-day week when, in February 2022, its employees won the right to perform a full workweek in four days instead of the usual five without loss of salary.

The new law came into force on November 21, 2023, allowing employees to decide whether to work four or five days a week.

Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo said he hoped that the change will help to make Belgium’s rigid labour market more flexible and will make it easier for people to combine their family lives with their careers.

Iceland is a long-term champion of the four-day workweek, conducting one of the world’s largest and most influential trials between 2015 and 2019. 

The pilot included 2,500 public sector workers, over 1 per cent of the country’s entire workforce, and reduced weekly working hours from 40 to 35 without reducing pay. Results reportedly showed improvements across productivity, job satisfaction, and wellbeing.

After the trial, several of its biggest unions renegotiated contracts, and now around 86 per cent of Iceland’s workforce have either adopted shorter hours or gained the right to request them. Iceland is therefore widely regarded as a model for sustainable workweek reform.

Since 2022, Lithuania has also offered a shorter workweek to a specific segment of its public sector workforce.

Germany began a six-month trial of the four-day workweek in February 2024, involving 45 companies in partnership with 4 Day Week Global.

Spain introduced a four-day workweek pilot program in late 2022, initially targeting small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Japan’s government reportedly began a push for optional four-day workweeks in 2021 as part of its wider plan to address issues such as overwork, mental health, and declining birth rates. Tokyo subsequently introduced a four-day schedule for public sector employees in 2025. 

 

Source: Daily Mail

(Quote via original reporting)

An economist has revealed that four-day workweeks are becoming “very, very common” among Dutch workers, Daily Mail reports.

According to Eurostat, people aged 20 to 64 in the Netherlands clock up an average of just 32.1 hours a week in their main job. The shortest workweek of the entire EU. 

Across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), no country has a higher rate of part-time workers. Now many full-time staff are reportedly squeezing their working hours into just four days, leaving Fridays free.

“The four-day work week has become very, very common,' Bert Colijn - an economist at Dutch bank ING - told Daily Mail.

“I do work five days, and sometimes I get scrutinised for working five days!”

For decades, the Netherlands maintained the traditional male breadwinner model, until women began entering the workforce in part-time roles during the 1980s and 1990s.

The change led to the so-called 'one-and-a-half earner model' - one parent full-time, the other part-time - a system encouraged by tax breaks and benefits.

Now this model is mainstream with fathers increasingly taking a 'papa day' to look after the children, as men embrace shorter working weeks alongside their partners.

Despite fewer hours on the clock, the Netherlands reportedly remains one of Europe's richest countries, as a result of high productivity per hour and a massive 82 per cent of working-age people in employment.

That's higher than the UK at 75 per cent, the US at 72 per cent, and France at 69 per cent.

The system is not perfect, however, the OECD has flagged that it is holding women back. Only 27 per cent of the Netherlands’ managers are female; one of the lowest figures in the developed world.

Labour shortages are also having a significant impact in areas such teaching, leaving schools understaffed and families struggling to juggle work and childcare. 

Belgium became the first country in Europe to legislate a four-day week when, in February 2022, its employees won the right to perform a full workweek in four days instead of the usual five without loss of salary.

The new law came into force on November 21, 2023, allowing employees to decide whether to work four or five days a week.

Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo said he hoped that the change will help to make Belgium’s rigid labour market more flexible and will make it easier for people to combine their family lives with their careers.

Iceland is a long-term champion of the four-day workweek, conducting one of the world’s largest and most influential trials between 2015 and 2019. 

The pilot included 2,500 public sector workers, over 1 per cent of the country’s entire workforce, and reduced weekly working hours from 40 to 35 without reducing pay. Results reportedly showed improvements across productivity, job satisfaction, and wellbeing.

After the trial, several of its biggest unions renegotiated contracts, and now around 86 per cent of Iceland’s workforce have either adopted shorter hours or gained the right to request them. Iceland is therefore widely regarded as a model for sustainable workweek reform.

Since 2022, Lithuania has also offered a shorter workweek to a specific segment of its public sector workforce.

Germany began a six-month trial of the four-day workweek in February 2024, involving 45 companies in partnership with 4 Day Week Global.

Spain introduced a four-day workweek pilot program in late 2022, initially targeting small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Japan’s government reportedly began a push for optional four-day workweeks in 2021 as part of its wider plan to address issues such as overwork, mental health, and declining birth rates. Tokyo subsequently introduced a four-day schedule for public sector employees in 2025. 

 

Source: Daily Mail

(Quote via original reporting)

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