Live data from Hacker News

Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

fastcoexist.com

81–90 of 105 posts

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#81
post #13

Can't wait till this happens in North America. I hope we realize shorter work days and basic income in the next couple of decades. Then we will truly have a golden age.

I think the US should focus on more paid vacations days for starters.

Having a federal minimum of say 4 weeks would be a start. And any state that dint follow suit would have its pork (federal aid) cut

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#82
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all honesty, many knowledge worker jobs in the US are already un-clocked. Essentially, the company has an expectation that a job gets done and the employee has an expectation that they'll generally speaking be present at the office roughly during core hours. The unspoken agreement is that this ends up being roughly 40 hours per week, with concessions made on the employee's part when things get tough and on the emp…

So ultimately what hours do most tech/knowledge companies work in the US? 9-5? 9-6? I've also heard stories of 9-9 or worse but wonder how much is startup myth.

9-6(8 at office, lunch hour uncounted) is typical for an established company that is not experiencing a managerial crisis.

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#83

I would like to try out a 10h workday with 4days/week and a 3 day weekend. Some studies say a 3 day weekend makes you happier and more productive.

why 10h? go ahead with 4 days but keep 8h.

1. Employers want to get 40h work out of every employee

2. Employees don't want to take a 20% cut to their salary

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#84
The majority of people have children. Sucks for you, but I'd rather it suck for you and the rest of the few asshole asocial hermits, than suck for all of us. Though if you like money so much, maybe we could pass in a law that you can trade in your fertility for a tax cut.

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#85
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why 10h? go ahead with 4 days but keep 8h.

1. Employers want to get 40h work out of every employee 2. Employees don't want to take a 20% cut to their salary

It's all a matter of negotiation, isn't it. You never get what you never ask for.

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#86
post #22
post #7

As a swede I think the title is highly misleading. Sweden is not shifting to a 6-hour workday. Sure there are a few experiments but the baseline is that sweden (which has a huge public sector) cannot afford it without raising taxes further. The current forecasts for the future indicates that taxes has to be raised a lot just to maintain the current standard. I would be very surprised if the 6 hour workday would be pr…

As an American, I'm interested in knowing why it would require Sweden to raise taxes. Since you mentioned a huge public sector, is it a case of needing extra workers to work shifts so that pubic services are run at the usual hours? I imagine private companies would be able to get away with it, as long as all their competitors also switch to six-hour workdays.

Wages would also go down, maybe not proportionally but people do not do the exact same amount of work in 6 hours as in 8 hours. To make up for the lost production, some more people would be hired who are currently out of a job.

Average wage goes down, but more people have jobs.

However, due to progressive tax system, that leads so less tax being earned (two people earning $x each pay less than one person who earns $2x and another who earns nothing).

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#87
post #59
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He(?) said: > Sure there are a few experiments but the baseline is that sweden (which has a huge public sector) cannot afford it without raising taxes further. The general idea is that while you might just kick office workers out the door 2 hours early, and not see a drop in what the actually get done (and there are a lot of office workers in the public sector) - in other areas, notably healthcare (and also Miletary,…

Why would you pay them the same? Hire 14% more workers, work them 35h instead of 40h, and pay them 14% less each. Costs the same, doesn't it?

The rhetoric that I have read on the opinions is that the workers should still be paid for 40 hours. It is debatable if the loss of productivity is that pronounced, but in overall this scheme would be more expensive to all parties.

Let's hope it's not the case.

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#88

I've found that working 8 or 9 months during the year then taking 3 or 4 months to look for the next contract or FT job helps me to re-sync and avoid burn-out (at least, I don't think I'm burned out - that's a good sign right!).

way to go! I try the same, but when I stop working and chill for a while, I start to feel guilty for not making more money despite I could.

Maybe a personal year-income-threshold would be a good idea. Once that's earned, just relax. Makes more sense in countries with progressive income tax rate.

Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day

#90
post #84

The majority of people have children. Sucks for you, but I'd rather it suck for you and the rest of the few asshole asocial hermits, than suck for all of us. Though if you like money so much, maybe we could pass in a law that you can trade in your fertility for a tax cut.

Fuck you.
Post reply on HN