PRE-READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What do you do in your free time?

2. What is your workday like? What time do you arrive at the office and what time do you
leave?
Do you take any breaks during the day? When do you start and finish lunch?
3. Imagine that your company announced that the workday would now be 2 hours
shorter.
Would you be able to finish your work in two hours less time?
What would you do with your extra 2 hours of free time?
4. Do you think that any profession could change to a 6-hour day?
5. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a shorter workday for:
-doctors, nurses -workers at car centres
6. Does your company have any policies or guidelines that push workers to focus on
work?
Are any websites blocked? Are there any limits on how many or how long breaks can
be?

VOCABULARY
a) a big increase
1. retirement home
b) a home or residence where people
___ 2. car centre live when they are older, after they
stop working
___ 3. aim
c) deal with / overcome a difficult
___ 4. turnover
situation
___ 5. profits
d) dealership (AmE)
___ 6. developer
e) different jobs you have to do at work
___ 7. task
f) earnings
___ 8. challenge
g) give employment to someone
___ 9. cope
h) objective
___ 10. endurable
i) permitted
___ 11. staff
j) personnel, employees
___ 12. allowed to do something
k) someone who creates things
___ 13. enough
l) something difficult you have to do
___ 14. stamina
m) something you can tolerate
___ 15. hire
n) sufficient
___ 16. boost
o) the ability to last/endure when doing
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___ an activity
p) when employees leave and are
replaced

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Sweden introduces six-hour work day Hardeep Matharu - Thursday 1
October 2015

Employers across the country including retirement homes, hospitals and car centres, are implementing the change

Sweden is moving to a six-hour working day to try to increase productivity and make people happier.

Employers across the country have already made the change, according to the Science Alert website,
which said the aim was to get more done in a shorter amount of time and ensure people had the
energy to enjoy their private lives.

Toyota centres in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, made the change 13 years ago, with the
company reporting happier staff, a lower turnover rate, and an increase in profits in that time.

Filimundus, an app developer based in the capital Stockholm, introduced the six-hour day last year.

Linus Feldt, the company’s CEO said, “The eight-hour work day is not as effective as one would
think."

"To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a very big challenge. To make the work
day more endurable, we mix in things and pauses. At the same time, we are finding it hard to
manage our private lives outside of work."

Mr Feldt has said staff members are not allowed on social media, meetings are kept to a minimum,
and that other distractions during the day are eliminated - but the aim is that staff will be more
motivated to work more intensely while in the office.

He said the new work day would guarantee people have enough energy to pursue their private lives
when they leave work – something which can be difficult with eight-hour days.

“My impression now is that it is easier to focus more intensely on the work that needs to be done and
you have the stamina to do it and still have the energy left when leaving the office,” Mr Feldt added.

According to Science Alert, doctors and nurses in some hospitals in the country have even made the
move to the six-hour day.

A retirement home in Gothenburg made the six-hour change earlier this year and is conducting an
experiment, until the end of 2016, to determine whether the cost of hiring new staff members to cover
the hours lost is worth the improvements to patient care and increasing of employees’ morale. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-introduces-six-hour-work-day-a6674646.html

Read more: 

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 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/11903432/Why-the-UK-should-adopt-Swedens-
six-hour-workday.html
 http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5446579

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What do companies around Sweden hope to gain from changing the

working day to just six hours?

2. When Toyota made this change over a decade ago, what did they say
changed?

3. At Filimundus, how do they keep staff focused on their work?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. After reading the article, what questions do you still have about the
topic?

2. Do you think this change would ever be possible in your country? At

your company?
Why or why not?

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