Sweden's six hour workday is being dropped. The major cause of abandoning the experiment is finances.
In the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, an experiment was conducted for two years. Staff at Svartedalens old people's home has only to work for six hours a day.
The experiment has shown that staff working for a total six hours a shift have improved productivity. The nurses say that they feel healthier and are less prone to take sick leaves. Also, better patient care was provided by the staff reportedly.
According to Monica Axhede, Director of the Svartedalens Nursing Home, the experiment had created a more relaxed atmosphere for the patients.
According to her, many of the residents of the home had dementia and as a result of less stress in the home, these patients are quieter and peaceful as compared to before the experiment.
In addition to this, Axhede states that the home had created more jobs by hiring more staff as reported in an article by the Independent.
Daniel Bernmar, the leader of the Left party who is heading the trial reported that the experiment is associated with higher costs. He stated that in order to carry out a shortening of working hours within a reasonable timeframe, more money must be spent.
According to Bernmar, the home had to employ 17 extra staff to facilitate the six hour workday experiment. This costs 12 million kronor or $1.3 million as reported by the International Business Times.
Bernmar however dismisses reports that claim that the experiment was a failure. He states that the economic costs outweighing the benefits remains to be seen.
Latest reports states that the cost of unemployment has been slashed by 4.7 million kronor during the first 18 months of the experiment. This comes after increased rate of employment generated by the experiment.
Bernmar further stated that he personally believes that working shorter hours is a long term solution.
