The municipal staff in Gothenburg, a city in west Sweden, are experimenting with six-hour workdays in the hopes that it will decrease absenteeism, boost productivity and save the city money.
"We think it's time to give this a real shot in Sweden," Mats Pilhem, Left Party deputy mayor of Gothenburg told The Local.
The municipal council has been broken up in to two groups -- a test group and a control group. One group will begin working six-hour workdays, while the other will continue working 40-hour workweeks. Their pay will all remain the same.
"We'll compare the two afterwards and see how they differ. We hope to get the staff members taking fewer sick days and feeling better mentally and physically after they've worked shorter days," Pilhem said. He added that he hopes the shorter shifts will lead to an increase in efficiency, thus creating more jobs.
Six-hour workdays have been a topic of conversation for some time now. Arguments have been made suggesting that creative and knowledge workers can benefit even more from six-hour workdays.
What do you think about the six-hour workday?
Member discussion