Looking for a job that will let you work less and earn more?
Forget Facebook. Gambol past Google. The job you want isn’t in Silicon Valley.
It’s in Iceland.
Yes, the tiny island nation that gave us Bjork, fermented shark and puffin burgers has come up with the most revolutionary achievement in job satisfaction since the invention of the paycheck.
And it doesn’t matter what kind of job it is.
You could be a teacher, a barista or a police officer. Whatever you do, when you live in Iceland, chances are you will only be doing it four days a week. Not only will you work less, you’ll be paid the same salary as when you worked five days a week.
I know what you’re thinking. “Someone tell me when the next bus leaves for Iceland. I want to get on board.”
It was the Reykjavik City Council that introduced the concept of the four-day workweek. They tested it in 2015 and again in 2019.
“The results were gathered from a wide range of workplaces,” report Paulina Villegas and Hannah Knowles in the Washington Post. “From offices to preschools, social service providers and hospitals — leading researchers concluded that the ‘transformative positive effects’ of a shorter working week are beneficial for employees and businesses alike.”
Though your managers may not immediately embrace the idea of less work for the same amount of pay, I imagine you have instantly grokked the advantage of having a few extra hours of the working week to “run errands, participate in home duties, exercise and spend quality time with family and friends.”
Social scientists believe that having more freedom will make you a happier person, and therefore a more productive person. A more realistic reason is that you will probably take the time to fulfill these personal obligations anyway, and having the company’s approval, rather than sneaking around like the little weasel you are, will make you feel less guilty.
While the United States is showing little enthusiasm for shrinking the workweek, the idea of a four-day week has gained traction in New Zealand and Spain. I’m not sure what Kiwi workers do with their extra day off — how much time can you spend grooming your pet sheep? — but if you worked in Spain, the shorter workweek would definitely allow you to devote more time to your bullfighting hobby or perfect your skills as a flamenco dancer.
To which I say, Ole!
No doubt, the pandemic experience has played a part in motivating countries and companies to consider fiddling with the sacred tradition of the 40-hour week. No longer do CEOs preach a gospel of “if you’re not here on Saturday, don’t bother coming in on Sunday.” Instead, our business leaders are bending over backwards to show how flexible they can be when it comes to making the job fit the employee, instead of the vice and the versa.
It isn’t that companies have finally found their hearts. Instead, big-deal executives have come to understand that after a year of facing death from a relentless virus, many workers are rethinking their commitments to their jobs. Even a success-oriented human person such as yourself, who has always believed that if you work hard enough, long enough, you could get a 1.5%, within-guidelines salary bump plus a chance to rise another step on the management ladder to a position of complete nervous wreck, now may find yourself thinking, “or I could just say, ‘Screw it,’ and go lie on the beach.”
Will the American workweek shrink to four days? Hard to say. But let’s be optimists. If you can accomplish five days of work in four days, you can certainly accomplish four days of work in three days! Cut out a few nonessential time sucks, like business meetings and any kind of conversation with the HR department, and a two-day workweek seems eminently possible.
Decide to cut back on the time you spend online shopping and playing video games, and a one-day workweek will be more than sufficient to do the little amount of work you do. And think how much money your company will save from all the mistakes you won’t be making because you won’t be working.
Yes, it’s obvious that the best thing your boss could do is pay you not to come to work any days at all. You could take this as a negative commentary on your skills and abilities, but let’s be real.
It sure beats moving to Iceland.
Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at [email protected] To find out more about Bob Goldman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.