It really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone to hear, but researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Salford have determined that working just one eight-hour workday a week makes for the happiest, healthiest employers.
As it turns out, those eight hours can make all the difference for our mental health and well-being. Go figure, right?
Researchers conducted a panel survey and examined data from more than 70,000 residents across the UK from 2009 to 2018. Characteristics like age, children, illness, and household income were controlled.
Participants were asked about such issues as anxiety, self-esteem, and sleep problems in an effort to determine their mental health.
"We have effective dosage guides for everything from vitamin C to hours of sleep in order to help us feel better," he said. "But this is the first time the question has been asked of paid work."
He went on to explain that while unemployment has been examined in relation to mental health, researchers believe that the hours of our employment should also be attributed to our well-being.
"In the next few decades we could see artificial intelligence, big data and robotics replace much of the paid work currently done by humans," study first author Dr. Daiga Kamerade said. "If there's not enough for everybody who wants to work full-time, we will have to rethink current norms."
The answer? Eight hours. That's it.
"We now have some idea of just how much paid work is needed to get the psycho-social benefits of employment - and it's not that much at all," Dr. Burchell said.
Well, according to researchers, policy makers should keep this in mind and move into a future with more limited work schedules, like "five-day weekends," two-hour work days, or increasing annual holidays from weeks to months, maybe even offering two months off for every one month worked.
This would be in order to "ensure that any reduction in hours is adopted equally across the workforce and that the psycho-social quality of the working environment is maintained."
So basically, just as long as the vibe in the office doesn't change too much, and as long as no one works way more than their co-workers, we could see a happier and healthier working experience in the future.
That is, if people heed this study's results. But for now I guess we'll just deal with the hours we have.
h/t: The Daily Mail
