When talking about countries with high productivity, all eyes tend to head to Germany or Ireland. However, the Netherlands has become a European benchmark when it comes to significantly reducing the volume of working hours in its days, naturally moving closer to the four-day week model. This trend draws attention both for its impact on daily 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, in part thanks to their system of Flexible, well-paid employmentwhich has evolved to prioritize personal well-being over the traditional model based on long hours.
Netherlands and its reduced working hours. According what was published for the 4 Days Week FoundationThe Netherlands has structured its labor market in such a way that full-time is not the most widespread model and a large part of employees prefer to work fewer hours voluntarily. However, far from being conceived as a model of precariousness, it has become an example of balance between work and professional life.
According to data According to Eurostat data from May 2026, the average working day in the Netherlands is the lowest in Europe with only 32.1 hours worked, compared to 36.6 hours per week in Spain or 35.6 hours in Ireland. According to data published by the Financial Timesaround 50% of Dutch people work part-time, and the proportion is even higher among women, who reach up to 75%.
Not only do you work less during part-time hours. Beyond the obvious cutback that comes with working under a model of part timefull-time days are also among the shortest in Europe with 39.1 hours, only surpassed by Denmark with 38.7 hours per week. In Spain, the real full time It stands at 40.2 hours.
Being shorter, the Dutch tend to compress it into four days instead of five. Bert Colijn, economist at ING bank, assured the Financial Times that “The four-day work week has become very, very common. I work five days, and sometimes I get criticized for working five days!”
Higher productivity and better salaries. The Eurostat data highlight that the Netherlands is among the countries with higher productivity per hour worked, standing at 45.3 euros per hour, compared to 29.4 euros in Spain, but far from the productivity of Ireland, which far exceeds 76 euros per hour worked.
This combination of high productivity and reduced working hours has meant that a situation of wage precariousness has not been generated; on the contrary, Holland has maintained salaries above the European average. According to Eurostat, The average gross salary in the Netherlands, adjusted by purchasing power (PPP), 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.
The Netherlands does not have a four-day work week.. Strictly speaking, the Netherlands has not implemented any policy of reducing working hours (as Yes Spain tries to do it) or four-day work day. However, almost without intending to, the Dutch labor market has adjusted in such a way that, on a practical level, its companies have implemented the four-day working day without loss of pay after decades of conciliation policies.
A version of this article was published in August 2025
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