Four-day week to be trialled in Valencia

VALENCIA city will trial a four-day working week to see if it would be viable in the long term.

Mayor Joan Ribo has announced plans to test the scheme for one month between April 10 and May 3, timed to coincide with four bank holidays, to analyse the impact on workers, the environment and other factors.

According to RTVE, the aim of the test is to check whether the hypothesis that this reduction in the working week is beneficial to personal perception of health, the environment and even productivity is verified.

Sr Ribo explained that the study will be coordinated by the municipal innovation centre and the local statistics department. It will include interviews on employees and employers, as well as C02 emission tests to check if the scheme could also be beneficial for the environment, with the results due to be published in July.

The interviews will include questions such as how they spent their extra free time, if they did more exercise, read more, taken part in cultural activities, and how they think the reduction impacted their general health.

Activity levels in bars and restaurants will also be monitored to see if the scheme is good for business, and traffic data will be used to check whether car accidents decrease and if bicycle use increases.

A 2022 UK pilot test by Cambridge University revealed that workers who only have to work four days a week instead of five reported lower levels of stress and tiredness, while productivity actually increased.

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