ML-Implode News - Swedish Six-Hour Workday Experiment Results Are In: It's Too Costly

A two-year experiment cutting working hours while maintaining pay levels for nurses at Svartedalen old people's home in the Swedish city of Gothenburg is now nearing the end. The take away was largely positive, with nurses at the home feeling healthier, which reduced sick-leave, and patient care improving.
But the city has no plans in making the measure permanent or broadening it to other facilities. To do that it would need much more money and even help from the national government. To cover the reduced hours for the 68 nurses at the home it had to hire 17 extra staff at a cost of about 12 million kronor ($1.3 million).
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Still, the added hiring by the municipality has helped the coffers of the national government by reducing unemployment costs by 4.7 million kronor during the first 18 months of the trial due to new jobs, according to the interim report.

Interesting that almost half of the cost (direct, on the business) was counterbalanced by savings to the unemployment system. Perhaps there's a way to bring those two numbers closer together and provide a subsidy for businesses that cut hours but employ more people. If not, then apparently the idea really doesn't work.

Relevant:

Swedish Six-Hour Workday Experiment Results Are In: It's Too Costly