The companies in the study reported fewer sick days, fewer employees resigning and a positive effect on productivity. A majority of the companies and organizations that participated have chosen to continue with reduced working hours even after the study.
At the end of the study, among other things, 70 percent of the employees reported reduced levels of burnout and 40 percent stated that they were less stressed.
Göran Kecklund, who is a professor at the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, has read the report.
– It agrees with what results from previous Swedish studies have shown. You feel better if you get shorter working hours and the same salary, he says.
Has not been published
But the reliability of the study is questioned. It is not published in a scientific journal, which means that the researchers behind it have not presented their methods as extensively as if it had been published. Other researchers have not reviewed the research either.
Furthermore, the study was only conducted for six months.
– It is far too short a time to say anything about the long-term effects of the reduction in working hours, for example sick leave. But it would be interesting to do a similar study in Sweden, but with a more scientific method, says Göran Kecklund.
“Uncritical attitude”
Behind the report stands the British think tank Autonomy research, which describes itself as independent progressive, and researchers from, among others, the University of Cambridge and Boston College. The study was carried out in collaboration with the interest organizations 4 Day Week Global and the 4 Day Week Campaign, which campaign for shorter working weeks in the UK and globally.
– I get the feeling that they have a slightly uncritical attitude. I wonder if they were interested in finding flaws, says Göran Kecklund.
“Better a six-hour day than a four-day week” – hear what some people think about working less in the clip above.