Despite prominent nations like the U.S. still adopting long working hours for its workforce, Sweden has begun to implement a significant change in the working hours of its employees, with businesses across the country adopting a standard six-hour work day.
The project was previously tested in a Svartedalens retirement home in Gothenburg, which had the six-hour work day implemented as a test. During the course of the program, the staff of the home's morale became significantly higher, fostering better care for its patients, according to Fast Company.
Linus Feldt, CEO of Stockholm-based app developer Filimundus, also believes that the six-hour work day benefits companies in the long-run, despite the shorter working hours of its employees.
"I think the eight-hour work day is not as effective as one would think. To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the work day more endurable. At the same time, we are having it hard to manage our private life outside of work," he said, according to Science Alert.
The app developer has switched to the six-hour work day system since last year, and the results have been extremely positive so far.
"We want to spend more time with our families, we want to learn new things or exercise more. I wanted to see if there could be a way to mix these things," Feldt added, emphasizing that due to the shorter working hours, the company's staff has been asked to stay off distractions such as social media. Meetings were also kept to a minimum.
"My impression now is that it is easier to focus more intensely on the work that needs to be done and you have the stamina to do it and still have energy left when leaving the office," the CEO further said.
The risks of working eight, or more, hours a day have been explored by a number of medical studies. Just last month, a study involving 600,000 participants across the U.S., Europe, and Australia found that people who worked 55 hours a week had a 33 percent greater risk of having a stroke than those who work shorter hours.
The study has also found that 49-hour weeks were associated with lower mental health in employees, particularly among the female population.
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