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Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

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Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#91

Post by whatshisface »

isatty wrote: post #25
paxys wrote: post #17

It's an open secret at least in the tech world that absolutely no one is putting in a productive 40 hours of work a week. This was true well before the pandemic and is more pronounced than ever now. Everyone needs to be "present" for 8 hours a day 5 days a week, but spends their time in pointless meetings, preparing documents and powerpoints that no one will read, faux social/teambuilding events, hour long lunches, g…

What’s wrong with an hour long lunch? Isn’t that normal?

It is normal, but if you think about it, it doesn't really take an hour to eat lunch - and sometimes it would be preferable to eat in 5 minutes and leave at 4:05 instead of taking an hour to sit around the office. Every reasonable employer would permit this but I have learned from reading HN comments that not every employer is reasonable.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#92

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

isatty wrote: post #25
paxys wrote: post #17

It's an open secret at least in the tech world that absolutely no one is putting in a productive 40 hours of work a week. This was true well before the pandemic and is more pronounced than ever now. Everyone needs to be "present" for 8 hours a day 5 days a week, but spends their time in pointless meetings, preparing documents and powerpoints that no one will read, faux social/teambuilding events, hour long lunches, g…

What’s wrong with an hour long lunch? Isn’t that normal?

In my state 30 minutes has been the standard for a long time. Usually in the service industry they don't even give you a lunch break.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#94

Post by whateveracct »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #90
whateveracct wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working 60hr/week for a startup is completely illogical. It's the sort of thing you only do drunk on kool-aid.

> It's the sort of thing you only do drunk on kool-aid Did not realise believing in a mission is akin to joining a suicide cult. Work doesn’t have to suck. It doesn’t have to be everyone’s calling. But it is for some of us, and sixty+ hours a week can be time well spent. My time at start-ups has been time around colleagues I love, work I enjoy and a mission I believe in. (I was also decently compensated while there a…

I mean - feel free if you actually think your job is aligned with your life's goal.

Me? I'd rather do what I can to make Art. So it's nice that I can get a software company to subsidize it thoroughly.

I'm just glad I can get paid effectively for being Skilled instead of laboring with my Skill. Availability is the best ability after all.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#95

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #61
golergka wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it.

> Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it. My last employer refused to even accept 4 days a week for 80%. Manager brought up how much the company had invested in training me as a grad (which, to be fair, they did), and that cutting my hours would have meant that investment had gone to waste. I now work for them 0 days a week. Funny how that works.

I'll never understand that concept that certain management types think they can keep you perpetually under a feeling of obligation alone.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#96

Post by falcolas »

SilverRed wrote: post #63
golergka wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it.

I'm sure mine would too but whenever I think about the trade, I'd rather have more money and work the full time. Then I can buy an investment property and relax on the gains on the land.

Just remember: having a “later” is not guaranteed. Too much can happen between now and then.

My advice is to also enjoy the time you know you have: now. Even if it postpones the “later” for a bit.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#97

Post by mstuyt »

Svperstar wrote: post #89
RikNieu wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you're expected to eat at your desk and type while chewing.

No lie my first job out of college expected you to eat at your desk and not leave for your lunch break.

An insurance company I did some work for had a bell go off for your two coffee breaks and lunchtime. You spent half of your lunchtime waiting for elevators.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#98

Post by flippinburgers »

lkois wrote: post #67
derefr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like anything the Japanese government does that only disincentivizes employees from overwork, without disincentivizing employers from expecting overwork, will only result in employees finding new and creative ways to overwork to appease their employers.

I worked in a couple of Japanese tech offices. Contracts and salary included prepaid overtime, to get around the government saying ALL overtime should be paid. But they must have also allowed up to 40 hours per month to be considered "reasonable", so that number was in the contract, and I'd only get overtime if I went over it. Felt like a shitty loophole to agree to, but luckily both companies were super cool and ove…

At the end of the day all that matters is how much one makes for when working full-time. I find it insulting that the employer acts like it is already paying you for a 2 hour per day overtime schedule on a salary that is already bad. To be clear Japanese salaries, in my experience, are bad. Slicing out some of the already low salary and claiming it is there just in case one does work overtime is not ok.

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#99

Post by [deleted] »

kumarvvr wrote: post #83
throw123123123 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you think the salary comes from in the beginning?

At the beginning of civilized society? From the government itself. Then it slowly evolves into capital flow to people closely connected to the government (aristocrats, royalty, etc) and then to common people through banks. You seem to imply that for any entrepreneurship, you need to have no worker protections at all. But that is simply false.

[deleted]

Re: Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split

#100

Post by xmprt »

ekianjo wrote: post #45
rawtxapp wrote: post #11

I think more companies should (and probably will consider) 4-day maybe even 3-day workweeks as technology makes us more productive. Especially in industries that require deep thinking, the output doesn't necessarily scale with # of hours a worker puts in, not every hour is the same. I think 10 hours of highly productive work is much better than 40 hours of busy work. Anecdotally, I managed to accumulate almost 300 ho…

> Especially in industries that require deep thinking, the output doesn't necessarily scale with # of hours a worker puts in, not every hour is the same. Its not about the number of days per week, it's also about the frequency of the thinking you put into it. If you do a 4 days break between two work days, I'd be very surprised if you remember anything in detail of your previous work period.

Not all "weekends" have to be at the end of the week. You can have a weekend Wednesday and be able to recharge every 2 days without having to wait for 4 full days before your next weekend.
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