Happiness in shorter workday can't overcome cost

Sweden experiment finds that it boosts productivity but is too expensive

A controversial experiment with a six-hour workday in one of Sweden’s largest cities wrapped up this week with a cheerful conclusion: Shorter working hours make for happier, healthier and more productive employees.

There’s just one catch. The practice is too expensive and unwieldy to become widespread in Sweden anytime soon.

The two-year trial, which took place in the southern city of Gothenburg, centred on a municipal retirement home where workers were switched to a six-hour day, from eight hours, with no pay cut. Seventeen new nursing positions were created to make up for the loss of time, at a cost