International Week of Happiness at Work

October 6th to 10th, 2025 is just around the corner! Time to shake things up and lean into joy, one small moment at a time.

A Roar for Joy - No Puppies Required

Enter Jorts the Cat, who stumbled into screens (and open doors) - and became a surprise emblem of workplace solidarity and shared laughter.

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“Sometimes it’s the bloopers, not the blueprints, that keep teams together.”

What’s Your Jorts Moment?

Forget perfection. Inspired by Jorts the Cat - our reminder that joy sneaks in through mishaps - what’s yours?

Spilled coffee on the CEO’s slides
Accidentally hit “Reply All”
Wore slippers to a client call
Presentation froze… at the punchline
Printed 200 copies of the wrong report

Hit reply and share yours - we’ll feature a few (anonymously!) in the next issue.

Around the World in Happiness

“People have a right to be happy.”
Mark Price (ex-Waitrose) isn’t handing out slogans. He wants a Work Happiness Charter baked into UK workplaces. His data? 1.5 million employees. His point? Respect and well-being aren’t warm fuzzies — they’re productivity levers.
The Guardian
Scotland’s Four-Day Experiment
Scotland tried fewer hours, and here’s the math: 18% better mental health, 83% less stress, 80% higher life satisfaction. Productivity? Still fine. Turns out trimming time doesn’t trim output.
World Economic Forum
Global Four-Day Momentum
Multi-country pilots are finding the same thing: burnout down, satisfaction up, mental health boosted. One study? 90% of companies made it permanent. When leaders give back time, people give back energy.
Scientific American AP News
Gen Z & Millennials Want It
According to a recent survey, 69% of U.S. workers think they could manage a 32-hour, four-day week—and that rises to 75% among millennials.
Investopedia

Stats That Make Managers Blink

Happiness still fuels productivity
A March 2025 study from Massey University in New Zealand confirmed: happier employees aren’t just more positive—they’re measurably more productive and innovative.
Massey University
Global engagement hit a record low in Q1 2025, with only 1 in 5 employees feeling connected to their work. The cost? Billions in lost productivity.
Gallup.com
Hybrid beats onsite & remote
Hybrid workers log the highest engagement (31%), outperforming both fully remote and fully onsite setups. Flexibility done right = better energy.
teamout.com
Turnover is preventable
42% of voluntary exits in 2025 could have been avoided if well-being and engagement were taken seriously. Culture isn’t soft — it’s retention.
Paycor
Happiness is strategic, not just soft
Global data from early 2025 suggests that workplaces investing in employee happiness see better productivity, lower turnover, and stronger overall outcomes.
World Happiness Foundation

Jam-Packed with Questions (for you to chew on)

What if you shaved a week off the year with a “short week” experiment - would creativity rebound instead of burn out?
Scotland proved fewer hours = less stress and no productivity loss. So… what’s your excuse?
Are disengaged employees really a “people problem,” or is it a leadership design flaw hiding in plain sight?
Could bloopers and shared laughter be the glue your team didn’t know it needed?

What’s Next?

Coming up in the next newsletter: a menu of workplace experiments to test during IWoHaW. Some tiny, some bold, all designed to spark actual joy (not just posters in the break room). Until then? Send us your Jorts moment. The bloopers are the real ice-breakers.

Closing Thought

October is fast approaching. Don’t just nod at happiness — chair it, prototype it, live it.

Hedinn (Héðinn) Sveinbjörnsson
Iceland´s Chief Happiness Officer
International Week of Happiness at Work

Official Website: internationalweekofhappinessatwork.com
Save the Dates: October 6th – 10th, 2025

P.S. If you believe happiness at work should be the norm, not the exception, share this newsletter with someone who needs to hear it. The more voices, the bigger the impact.

P.P.S. Yes, sponsors are welcome. No, we don’t do tote bags. If your company wants to stand for something bigger, reply and we’ll explore it.

P.P.P.S. We may already have our first sponsor on board. But shhh… that’s staying under wraps until the next issue. 😉