"Loving the freedom that comes with flexible schedules, some have even advocated for four-day workweeks-but for one tiny European nation, that dream is already a reality. Workers in the Netherlands between the ages of 20 and 64 worked an average of 32.1 hours per week in 2024, according to a 2025 analysis from Eurostat. The country had the highest rate of shorter workweeks in Europe, followed by Austria, Germany, and Denmark all reporting roughly 34-hour workweeks."
"In contrast, Americans employed full-time worked an average of 42.9 hours weekly in 2024, according to a Gallup poll -and that's actually an improvement from 2019, when U.S. staffers clocked in 44.1 hours weekly. But it's not only North Americans who are committed to the grind, as over a third of employed people in the EU spent nearly 40 to 45 hours on the job weekly in 2024, according to the Eurostat data."
Since the pandemic, many American workers have favored remote and flexible schedules, and some advocated four-day workweeks. Workers in the Netherlands aged 20–64 averaged 32.1 weekly hours in 2024 per Eurostat, the shortest in Europe; Austria, Germany, and Denmark reported roughly 34-hour weeks. Full-time Americans averaged 42.9 weekly hours in 2024 per Gallup, down from 44.1 in 2019. Over a third of employed people in the EU worked nearly 40–45 hours weekly in 2024. The Netherlands’ shorter workweeks resulted largely from women's increased labor participation since the 1980s and a one-and-a-half earning model supported by tax breaks and benefits that normalized part-time parental roles.
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