14 DAY TRIAL // It was in April 2014 that high officials in Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city, announced that a 6-hour workday would be introduced for employees of the public sector.
The goal: boost mental and physical health by allowing people to spend more time with their loved ones or relaxing, and in doing so, increase productivity.
“We hope to get the staff members taking fewer sick days and feeling better mentally and physically after they've worked shorter days,” Mats Pilhem, Gothenburg's deputy mayor, told the press in an interview at the time.
As it turns out, the trend is picking up
It might be that it all started out as an experiment but it just so happens that, over these past few months, the 6-hour workday has grown to be quite popular in Sweden.
It's been introduced at Svartedalens, a retirement home in Gothenburg and at the Sahgrenska University hospital. Even businesses in the private sector have agreed to give it a try. Apparently, they are quite pleased with how things are working out.
Filimundus, a Stockholm-based app developer, introduced the 6-hour workday about a year ago. CEO Linus Feldt swears to it that, after making this switch, employees got better at their job. Well, not better. More effective is a more suitable description.
“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.”
“I think the 8-hour workday is not as effective as one would think. To stay focused on a specific work task for 8 hours is a huge challenge,” he said in an interview, as cited by Science Alert.
Then, there's tech startup Brath. This company introduced 6-hour workdays about 3 years ago. They're sticking to this schedule so it's safe to assume things are working just fine.
“We believe nobody can be creative and productive in 8 hours straight. 6 hours is more reasonable,” the tech startup explains its decision to have people spend less than the customary 8 hours at work.
Now everybody wants to move to Sweden
While it is true that 6-hour workdays are steadily gaining ground in Sweden, here are some things you might want to consider before packing your bags and booking a one-way trip to this country.
For starters, as popular as they seem to be, 6-hour workdays are not yet the norm in Sweden. Otherwise put, there are still plenty of people who work 8 hours a day, if not more.
Then, being allowed to spend just 6 hours per day on the job comes with a catch. Since the whole point is to boost productivity, you're expected to actually work all these 6 hours. So no Facebook, no Twitter, no any other distractions. It's up to you to decide if it's a fair trade or not.