World of HR: The Netherlands is slowly adopting a four-day workweek

One country has slowly been moving toward a four-day workweek, and according to reports, it’s thanks to women.

Where in the world? Workers in the Netherlands averaged 32 hours of work per week in 2024, Fortune reported. And while the country doesn’t officially have a four-day workweek, it’s largely the norm for working mothers, who are reportedly the main drivers of the shift, according to Four Day Week. As more women began entering the workforce in the 1980s, the Netherlands switched to a work model that allowed one parent to work full-time while the other worked part-time, aided by tax breaks. The model allowed all workers in the country more flexibility, and helped more women, who had traditionally been at home, enter the workplace for the first time.

Since then, unemployment shrank from 7.3% in 1991 to 3.7% in 2026. The country’s largest labor union, FNV, is also lobbying the Dutch government to officially switch to a 32-hour workweek.

Residents of the Netherlands work fewer hours than those in its closest neighbors, Austria, Germany, and Denmark, in part because employers cannot schedule workers for more than 60 hours a week, nor can they require work on Sundays, by law.

Positivity Branding, a Dutch marketing business co-founded by Gavin Arm and Bert de Wit, switched to a four-day workweek seven years ago, the BBC reported.

“The work-life balance was at the heart of it,” de Wit told the BBC. “In other countries they might spend a lot of time at work, but that doesn’t mean they work a lot. Changing the culture and the mindset is the biggest challenge.”

While many companies have seen success with shorter workweeks and the Netherlands overall has high productivity, an economist at OECD told the BBC that productivity there hasn’t increased. “If the Dutch want to maintain their quality of life, they have to increase productivity or increase their labour supply,” Daniela Glocker said.

Satellite view. Workers in the US, on the other hand, worked roughly 43 hours a week in 2024. While four-day workweeks appeared to be gaining popularity in 2022, many of those conversations fizzled out, according to Business Insider.

As companies have slowed hiring or cut workers to adopt more AI, the dream of a four-day workweek may be disappearing for some. Instead, companies are flexing their current power over employees, and reducing bonuses, flexible work, and free breakfast in the office. Some companies in Silicon Valley have even turned towards the 9-9-6 model, with employees expected in the office until 9pm for six days a week, the New York Times reported.

In the meantime, the Netherlands, with its tulip fields and bicycles, sounds enticing.