Finland's new PM proposes six-hour shifts, four-day working week

Finland's new prime minister (PM) has suggested the idea of a four-day working week with six-hour business days. Sanna Marin who is world's youngest sitting PM added that this plan if adopted will allow workers to give more time to their families.

The 34-year-old mother-of-one is of the view that the flexible working arrangement could be the "next step" in contemporary, healthy living.

Marin called for a trial-run of the new working set-up in the event of the 120th anniversary of SDP in Turku.

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"A four-day workweek, a six-hour workday. Why couldn't it be the next step?" Marin suggested in her speech.

"Is eight hours really the ultimate truth? I believe people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones, hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture. This could be the next step for us in working life," she added.

Marin leads a centre-left coalition along with five other parties which are all headed by women. The Finnish PM is the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). She took over as the prime minister in December 2019.

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Currently, Finland has normal working-hours of eight hours per day, five days a week.

Finland and its Scandinavian neighbours have for long been proposing socially-focused approaches to work.

In the year 2015, Sweden went ahead and adopted a six-hour working day. The outcome of this set-up showed happier employees who were more productive.