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Abstract

Work is a way for people to socialize and find purpose in life. For many, however, it is at the same time a source of stress and anxiety. The absence due to psychosocial health problems in Sweden is increasing (Regeringen, 2015) and many find it hard to manage the balance in life with full-time job, family, and leisure life. In addition, the developed technology makes the distinction between work and privacy unclear. This is a comparative study of four different private companies that has introduced a six-hour working day on their own initiative. The purpose is to investigate why a work time reduction was introduced, how the companies’ organized the work related to productivity goals and which effects that could be drawn due to reduced work time. To analyze our results we have used theories concerning this subject: Work Life Balance, Employer Branding, Empty Labor, Organizational trends and Motivational theories. We have used a qualitative method with a semi structured interview template and we present the result by using a thematic analysis (Bryman, 2011). 3 The result from the empirical data we have collected showed that there were two main reasons to why the companies introduced a reduction of work time: they wanted to increase their efficiency and become a more attractive workplace. All four organizations organized the work by eliminate unnecessary meetings and reducing small talks during work time. The main effects we found was that the employees were happier and well rested at work and the efficiency went up. There were not only positive effects though; two of the companies experienced an increase of stress in their employees since they had to produce the same amount of work in fewer hours.