The majority of people work for a long time to earn money. It is believed that the working hours should be cut down and employees need to have more free time. While this trend is beneficial to some extent, I would argue that its disadvantages are more significant.
On the one hand, cutting down the working hours has some benefits. Firstly, reduced working hours can be environmentally friendly. One less day off commuting for all employees can lead to reducing the level of carbon dioxide. If the office is not open, less energy will be used. Consequently, less emissions are released , and the pollution will be decreased. Furthermore, when the staff have more time to rest there are more likely to be happier and they have more energy. That happiness not only can improve job satisfaction and employee loyalty but also can increase the productivity. For example, after having great free time, the brain of staff would be fresh so they can easily make a decision at work and solve the problems they are encountered.
On the other hand, I believe this trend has far more drawbacks. When you have fewer hours a week to complete the same amount of work, something has gone under changed. You have to focus more on your job so you do not have sufficient time to socialize with your colleague. As a result you would not be able to build strong relationship and community bond with others. Moreover, if the work hours cut down more pressure would be on employees. Since they are behind of their schedual, they need to work more. Consequently, the level of stress would be increased and it can lead to mental and physical problems. For instance, there are more likely employees suffer from hearth attack or obesity.
In conclusion, despite some positive aspects, it seems to me that the adverse effects of cutting down the working hours are more significant for the reason mentioned.