The hours worked are falling so much in the Netherlands that, unintentionally, they are adopting the four -day week

When talking about countries with high productivity, all eyes tend to Go to Germany or Ireland. However, the Netherlands has become a European reference when it comes to significantly reducing the volume of working hours in its days, naturally approaching the four -day week model. This trend attracts attention both for its impact on everyday life and for the country’s economic data, banishing alarmist theories About economic ruin.

According to An analysis of the Financial Timesthe Dutch enjoy a high quality of life, partly thanks to their system of Flexible and well -paid employmentwhich has evolved to prioritize personal well -being over the traditional model Based on long days.

Netherlands and its reduced day. According The published by the 4 Days Week FoundationThe Netherlands have structured its labor market so that the full day is not the most widespread model and a large part of the employees prefer to work less hours voluntarily. However, far from being conceived as a precariousness model, it has become an example of balance Between work and professional life.

According to data Eurostat of 2023, the middle day in the Netherlands is the lowest in Europe with only 32.2 hours worked, compared to 36.4 hours in Spain or 35.5 hours in Ireland. According to the data published by the Financial Timesaround 50% of the Dutch work part -time, and the proportion is even greater among women, which reach up to 75%.

Not only does you work less in part -time days. Beyond the obvious cut involved in working under a model of part -timefull -time days are also from the short ones in Europe with 39.1 hours, only surpassed by Denmark with 38.7 hours per week. In Spain, the Real full day It stands at 40.2 hours.

Being shorter, the Dutch tend to compress it in four days instead of five. Bert Colejn, an Ing Bank economist, assured the Financial Times That “the four -day work week has become very, very common. I work five days, sometimes they criticize me for working five days!”

Greater productivity and better salaries. The Eurostat data They emphasize that Holland is among countries with Greater productivity per hour worked, standing at 45.3 euros per hour, compared to 29.4 euros in Spain, but far from the productivity of the Scandinavian countries that or Ireland that exceed 60 euros per hour worked.

This conjunction of high productivity and reduced days has caused a situation of salary precariousness to be generated, but, on the contrary, Holland has maintained wages above the European average. According to Eurostatthe average of the gross salaries of Holland, adjusted by purchasing power (PPA), is 16.2 euros per hour, while in Spain it is 11.8 euros per hour. The European average is 14.9 euros per hour.

Netherlands does not have four -day work week. In strict terms, the Netherlands have not applied any day reduction policy (such as Yes, Spain tries to do it) or four -day workday. However, almost without proposing it, the Dutch labor market has adjusted so that, at the practical level, its companies have implemented the working day of four days without wage reduction after decades of conciliation policies.

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