
Six-hour working day 'boosts productivity and makes people happier' - bontoJR
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/six-hour-working-day-sweden-boosts-productivity-and-makes-people-happier-a7023741.html
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lloyd-christmas
_While impressions of staff being happier and full of energy aren’t exactly
scientific basis for declaring 6-hour work days as 'better' than the 8.7-hour
work day endured by the average American, we do have evidence that what we’re
doing right now isn’t working._[1]

 _The study equates productivity with quality of care, which doesn 't
necessarily translate to white-collar work._[2]

 _[The company] had to hire an additional 15 nurses, which cost 6,000,000
Swedish krona (about $735,000). About half of that expense was offset by the
decrease in sick days and time off. That said, the experiment didn 't measure
how the improved care affected the overall bottom line._[2]

 _To cope with the significant cut in working hours, Feldt says staff are
asked to stay off social media and other distractions while at work and
meetings are kept to a minimum._ [1]

 _with more people in work, unemployment benefit payments are cut, but the
savings accrue to the state, not the municipality that bears the cost of
hiring more staff._ [3]

 _Daniel Bernmar, leader of the Left party group on Gothenburg city council,
which pushed for the trial at Svartedalens, admits a six-hour day costs more
money, but insists it is a matter of quality of life for public sector workers
and for residents in elderly care._ [3]

What I see is a quantitative drop in productivity being justified with a
qualitative survey. None of which supports " _boosts productivity_ ". Along
with this is less vacation, but more day-to-day personal time. I'm happier
working longer hours for more time off. The only thing that appeals to me in
this list is shorter meetings. I work in the private sector though, which
doesn't seem to be included in any studies.

[1] [http://www.sciencealert.com/sweden-is-shifting-
to-a-6-hour-w...](http://www.sciencealert.com/sweden-is-shifting-to-a-6-hour-
workday)

[2] [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/the-six-
ho...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/the-six-hour-workday-
works-in-europe-what-about-america)

[3] [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/efficiency-
up-t...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/efficiency-up-turnover-
down-sweden-experiments-with-six-hour-working-day)

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abhi3
Well obviously people are going to have more energy and be happier if you
reduce their work hours and keep their pay the same. Didn't need a study to
figure that out.

I think if working hours are reduced economy wide as planned in some
countries, over the long term the pay will eventually come down. More people
might have jobs yes and people may earn a higher hourly rate but not enough to
make up for the less hours worked.

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szczys
This helps solve our looming automation crisis.

On the other hand, patient handoff is the most dangerous part of the average
hospital stay. Shorter shifts for nursing staff equates to more frequent
handoffs.

~~~
velox_io
The number of patients seen per hour is not a healthy metric _.

_ Well it depends, yesterday I had quite along session with more, but it
needed to be. Today I've had some blood test and have no problem (I'm actually
glad) it was in there less than 5 minutes.

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mc32
Early stage startups take notice. Sole proprietor businesses take note!

I too would be happy to get more time off and get the same pay and job
security sign me up!

