New research indicates that reducing working hours can improve employees’ health, creativity, and productivity. The study shows that shorter workweeks are linked to better work ability, lower stress levels, and positive organizational changes.
A leading researcher at 'News Medical Life Sciences' highlighted the health benefits as particularly strong but emphasized that improvements in work ability and problem-solving capacity are equally important. “Not only do employees feel better after shorter working hours, but they also work better and are happier,” she said.
She pointed out the significant reductions in work-related stress, exhaustion, and burnout, noting that these improvements were statistically significant and had medium to large effect sizes.
Some findings were surprising as the researcher noted that shorter hours acted as a driver for change, enabling improvements in processes and work methods that had previously been stalled. Jakobsson Störe observed that employees not only spent more time on social relationships outside work but also engaged more with colleagues and rated their productivity higher.
While the study focused on organizational-level effects, the researchers believe sectors with high levels of ill-health could benefit from reduced working hours. However, they caution that the results come from small, voluntary samples without control groups, so larger studies are needed before drawing societal-level conclusions.
