The key result of the Swedish studythat productivity can increase with fewer hours workedeliminates a major stumbling block to globalizing the shorter work day. "The six-hour work week has not been well accepted in many countries because organizations are worried their productivity might fall," said Pramila Rao, an associate professor of human resource management at Marymount University. Even with encouraging results, it's unlikely that the U.S. will soon shift to shorter days. Americans work around 38.6 hours per week, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. They get, on average, fewer than eight paid vacation days a year; only about three-quarters of workers get any paid time off at all, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. "The Swedish model will not be easily accepted in the U.S. because we are a nation of workaholics," said Rao.
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