Courtesy of The Other 98%, with over 38,000 likes and 49,00 shares.  This meme gives the impression that Sweden has either adopted a 6 hour workday, or is in the process of doing so.  This impression would be wrong, and a surprise to most Swedes, who don’t have a 6 hour workday!

The media hoopla surrounding the Swedish 6 hour day came from an experiment done by the city of Gothenburg.  A government nursing home there devised a “controlled” study, where a small group of nurses were given a 6 hour workday (but still paid for 8), to see if the effects were positive or negative regarding efficiency, morale, turnover, etc.  As far as controlled studies go, this one was poorly designed.  To eliminate bias, a study needs a mechanism like a blind or double blind.  This prevents both the researchers and the subjects from changing their behavior and skewing the results. In this case, the employees knew they were part of the 6 hour group, so obviously, it was to their benefit to make the results as positive as possible so they could keep getting a 6 hour day!  Beyond that, it’s not exactly an earth shattering observation that employees are happier if they work less for the same salary.  Everyone wants more for doing less.  The question is at what cost?  In this case, to staff the nursing home more nurses were required, and the additional cost was absorbed by the city and taxpayers.  With a recent change in the city’s politics, it now appears this study has ended.

Beyond this small experiment, the 6 hour work day is quite scarce in Sweden.  There are some private businesses who’ve implemented it, notably the Toyota service centers in Gothenburg, which have adopted 6 hour days for over a decade, and some small startups throughout the country.  However, these are few and far between, and it’s certainly not the norm throughout Sweden.  Here’s a refutation of the hype from a Swedish perspective.

Congratulations USA?

If we looked to the US and took examples of companies that were experimenting with different sorts of benefits, we could come up with some pretty interesting memes as well!  It’s already quite common for many companies here to offer perks like 1/2 day Fridays, flexible telecommuting and company provided gyms and childcare, but here are just a few examples of companies pushing the envelope with job perks:

• Facebook offers 4 months of paid leave for new parents, mom or dad, plus reimbursement for day care and adoption fees, and even $4000 in “baby cash” for the newborn.
• Patagonia provides company bikes, volleyball courts and yoga classes, as well as encourages employees to engage in outdoor activities like surfing in the middle of the workday.
• Starbucks has a program that provides full tuition coverage to employees, allowing them to earn a bachelor degree through Arizona State’s online program.
• Evernote employees get their house cleaned for free twice a month!
• Google is probably the best known for their many employee perks, including extensive free food, shuttles, massages, video games and generous benefits that include paying one’s spouse and children in the advent of a death.

Most of these benefits are offered on a larger scale than the few recipients of the 6 hour work day in Sweden, and one could create a silly meme if they wished, but why do these companies offer such perks?  In order to attract and retain the best employees, which they’ve determined is essential for the success of their company.  Yet, notice no one forced these companies to offer these perks, they did it voluntarily in response to market pressures.

The Harm of Mandating Benefits

While it might be true that having a 6 hour workday increases productivity in some jobs, the employer should be deciding if it’s worth the cost trade off.  Perhaps in certain office jobs, where employees notoriously slack anyway, companies might benefit from a 6 hour day where everyone stays focused.  The only way to know is if some employers try it out and see if it gives them a competitive advantage.  However, it would be absurd to mandate this for every employer, as not every job would gain productivity.  It’s doubtful that an employer would see the benefits of a 6 hour day with a parking lot attendant, stock broker, or airline pilot.  Just because Evernote thinks it’s a good idea to clean their employees houses for free, doesn’t mean other companies will.  If we mandated every job provide free maid service, or $4000 in “baby cash”, it would hamper choice and productivity for both employees and employers.

It’s important to understand what makes it possible for these benefits, and perhaps, a 6 hour (or maybe 2 hour!) workday a reality someday.  200 years ago it would have been absurd to expect any of these perks at a job.  For those that didn’t spend all day toiling on their farm, most jobs had long hours and few, if any benefits.  So what changed?  Now, we are far more productive, and one employee is able to do the work of dozens, or even hundreds of workers in the past with inventions like computers and tractors.  This allows us to have far more wealth with far less effort.  If you took a poor nation like Bangladesh, it would be impossible to mandate benefits we take for granted, as there’s not enough wealth or productivity in the economy.  Mandating 3 weeks vacation, or even health care, would just mean most couldn’t get jobs.

Everyone has unique preferences, but most value leisure, as well as money.  If an economy is weak and unproductive, and a worker can earn enough to subsist, they will likely trade almost all of their leisure so they can eat and be sheltered.  As wealth increases, they will start to value leisure and other benefits more and more relative to working to earn additional money, leaving aside any emotional pleasure and fulfillment gained from their work.  It’s this increased wealth and productivity that ultimately causes the quality of employment benefits to go up, as employers must pay the market rates to get workers.  This should never be forgotten, and any increases in worker’s benefits should be applauded, provided its gotten voluntarily in the marketplace, not through government mandates.  Otherwise, as in the case of the Swedish nurses and the taxpayers, it comes at someone else’s expense.