Can lower working hours beat unemployment?
In Germany in crisis times working shorter hours (short-time work, Kurzarbeit) can be used by firms to prevent layoffs. There are legal regulations how labor unions need to be consulted on how this is done. It has been argued that this has helped to overcome the 2008 crisis better than some other countries, e.g.: "What Explains the German Labor Market Miracle in the Great Recession? The Evolution of Inflation Dynamics and the Great Recession", Brookings Papers in Economic Activity, Spring 2011, Michael C. Burda &amp; Jennifer Hunt; "Explaining the German Employment Miracle in the Great Recession – The 
Crucial Role of Temporary Working Time Reductions", Alexander Herzog-Stein, Fabian Lindner, Simon Sturn, June 2013