Hundreds of Swedish workers are trialling a six-hour working day in the hopes that it will cut sick leave and save the country money.
几百名瑞典员工正在测试6小时工作制，希望借此减少员工请病假、提高工作效率，以缩减国家开支。

In an experiment, workers in one government department in Gothenburg are to be put on to six-hour days on full pay, while workers in another department will work a standard seven-hour day.
在测试中，哥德堡市的政府部门工作人员工作6小时并拿全薪，而另一各部门的员工则仍需坚持7小时标准工作时间。

Mats Pilhem, Left Party deputy mayor of Gothenburg, hopes the six-hour staff will take fewer sick days, and have better physical and mental health as a result.
马茨·皮尔赫姆是哥德堡左翼党副市长，他希望6小时工作制可以减少员工病假，促进员工身心健康。

Speaking to The Local, he said: 'We think it's time to give this a real shot in Sweden.
在接受Local网站的采访中，他说：“我们认为是时候给瑞典一个改变的机会了。”

He claimed that a car manufacturer in the city had trialled the six-hour day with promising results.
他还说哥德堡一家汽车生产商已经测试了6小时工作制，效果喜人。

He added that in other sectors, such as social care, the problem was not a lack of employees but people working inefficiently over the course of a long shift.
他补充说，在其他诸如社会福利等部门，问题不在于缺少雇员，而在于长时间工作制度中员工的工作效率较低。

For 16 years around 250 staff at Kiruna council worked a six-hour shift, but the policy was abandoned in 2005 after a report found that it had no impact on health.
基律纳市政委员会的250名员工曾在16年里遵从6小时工作制，但后来有报告称这对健康没有任何影响，于是在2005年这一制度废止了。

Another trial in on staff in one hospital department in Stockholm had to be abandoned after workers in other departments became resentful, and a third on childcare workers was scrapped because it drove up costs.
斯德哥尔摩市一家医院的一个部门也进行了6小时工作制测试，然而随后却因其他部门的员工愤愤不平而废止；此外，在儿童护理员工中所做的测试也因成本上升而终止。

However, Pilhem dismissed the criticisms, saying: 'We've worked a long time on this, we've not planned it to be an election thing.'
然而皮尔赫姆力排众议，他说：“我们已经研究它很久了，不会说停就停的。”