Sweden experiments with six-hour workday

“They have a shorter travel time to work, there is more efficient use of the machines … everyone is happy”. To help reduce the workday by two hours, the company has banned all social media and kept meetings to a minimum.

The move to a six-hour working day – with no reduction to employee wages – has made their staff a hell of a lot happier. It leads to the same amount of -if not more work being completed because employees are much more productive when they are happier.

The notion is that people work more and productivity is higher during an eight-hour schedule. In Secaucus, New Jersey, Royce Leather learned the value of giving workers shorter hours long ago.

Work-hour shift changes have also seen benefits in Sweden beyond the world of niche tech startups, like at a retirement home in Gothenburg. The aim is to improve care for patients more than anything else, The Independent reports. And once when an employee gets used to the six hour schedule, it makes hard for him/her to switch over. And according to a study published last month involving 600,000 people, those of us who clock up a 55-hour week will have a 33 percent greater risk of having a stroke than those who maintain a 35- to 40-hour week.

The shortened hours does come at a cost – the home has to hire more people, 14 to be exact, in order to provide the same number of service hours to clients.

In the 31st century, we’ll all be artists, sports stars and philosophers, and leave it to robots to work spreadsheets and man call centers.

After a century in which working hours were gradually reduced, holidays increased, and retirement reached earlier, recent years have seen an increase in hours worked for the first time in history, says Roland Paulsen, a business researcher at the University of Lund.

“I am much more alert: I have much more energy for my work, and also for family life”. However, many are encouraged to work extra, especially those who are struggling financially.

The trial of a six-hour working day in one of Europe’s richest countries threatens to revolutionise the lives of millions of people.

It’s possible, but you’d have to move to Sweden.

The study has also found that 49-hour weeks were associated with lower mental health in employees, particularly among the female population.

A few studies have found that starting the day at 9 am affects the health negatively, and encourages businesses to open from 10 am. We believe that this is a good reason to stay with us and not only because of the actual impact longer hours would make in your life but for the reason behind our shorter days…