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Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

nytimes.com

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Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#21

Post by willheis »

azinman2 wrote: post #12
teawrecks wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure would be a shame if the employees collectively bargained with the company for more reasonable policies...

Yup… because their jobs may then go abroad as has been the trend for the past 20 years…

This happened to everything it could at least 10 years ago. It turns out that if you want software that works (at all), you need to pay people well, regardless of where they are in the world. Stop reenforcing this notion that leads to massive overwork and burnout in the US (+ Canada). Germany, the UK, Sweden, etc all have much, much better working conditions for software devs and their jobs aren't going away

Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#22

Post by mlyle »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

I would actually love a 4.5 day workweek, where the half-day is up to the employee to take.

Better to do 9 days in 10 or really make it to 4 (longer) days, IMO. Because then you're saving some commuter trips for people who have to be on site.

I think 4x9 as a nominal workweek makes a whole lot of sense. (9 days x 8 hours) / (2 weeks) is almost as good.

Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#25

Post by klipklop »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #17
azinman2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup… because their jobs may then go abroad as has been the trend for the past 20 years…

You can't ship pretty much any service industry job abroad.

That’s why they are working so hard on AI, drones and robots.

Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#26

Post by mlyle »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #6

I'm currently working for a company that forces office staff to work a half day on christmas eve with the additional stipulation, of course, that you must burn a full day of vacation to skip it. This despite the fact that no one in the company can ever remember a customer calling on christmas eve. So I'm very skeptical that this trend will grow. It took the IWW to get us the concepts of The Weekend and Sick Days, and…

I personally believe that the government should focus on a shorter workweek rather than minimum wage increases in the near term.

If we shorten the nominal workweek to 36 hours before overtime is required (and encourage this to be in the form of 4x9 or 9/2 * 8):

* Supply of labor will fall, increasing equilibrium pay for everyone

* Everyone's quality of life goes up

* Traffic and environmental impacts from commuting should improve (a little).

* It's a better hedge against automation and outsourcing than artificially increasing the minimum price of labor.

Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#27

Post by throwaway803453 »

FWH has exposed how many white-collar jobs were only full-time in the ass-in-seat sense and how many employees should have Professional Meeting Attender as their job title.

I used to be the guy who would champion efficient meeting practices. Now it's the last thing I want given that I can now work-out, make breakfast, do manual labor, etc., while listening to meeting.

4 day work week in grasp you ask ? For many I'd be surprised if they actually did 15hrs of work a week. I'd never hire a full time employee who can work remotely. I'd employ a contractor who has to itemize their invoice.

Re: Is the four-day workweek finally within our grasp?

#29

Post by mitigating »

robotsquidward wrote: post #18

As long as a 4-day work week doesn't mean 10-hour work days.

I would do 10 hours day for Friday off. Working an extra two hours doesn't put a huge strain as you are already at work or in the work mode. During crunch time I would end up working until 21:00 to 22:00 and I felt it was like exercise in that as long as you don't stop it's not as bad.

You also avoid commute overhead if you work from the office.

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