Live data from Hacker News

Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

fisherphillips.com

31–40 of 228 posts

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#31
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So demand massivley outstrips supply. If people aren't living in such horrible circumstances (crime, homelessness, drug abuse), why is demand so high that houses are unaffordable?

I don't know if you've been in California recently, but in the East Bay at least a large number of small businesses have closed down and formerly vibrant places now look like homeless encampments. I used to feel comfortable taking out my phone even after dark on BART, now I don't. The economy might still be chugging along but it's not chugging along on the back of the big cities with ultra liberal takes on crime/home…

> I don't know if you've been in California recently, but in the East Bay at least a large number of small businesses have closed down and formerly vibrant places now look like homeless encampments.

Despite the positive things I said upthread about the long-term trends, there is a very acute short term issue caused by the interaction of the inadequate response to the aggregate and distributional impacts of the pandemic with the preexisting housing affordability issue that is going to become a major long term problem if it isn't addressed.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#32
post #2

Serious question, and maybe this is just based on the people I've met: I've been hearing lots of business owners complaining about California's labor laws getting increasingly hostile which leads companies to relocate or move as many resources they can outside of CA, much like Tesla did. Does anyone else share that sentiment? I personally think that this is well-intentioned but has consequences that need to be though…

I feel like these trends are waves and we are currently in the down trend. I think we’ll see a bigger uptrend once the economy stabilizes again. We are in a multi prong proxy battle between energy sources and work/life shift. Once people figure out this change I’m sure things will get better as they did for other cities like nyc. Things were really awful back in the day and got better, then got worse, then got better…

> you can just hop on your bicycle and ride five min to the beach

I can assure you that the percentage of Californians that enjoy this lifestyle is vanishingly small. I've lived in all three coastal metros in California, was an avid user of the beach and hate driving; this lifestyle is not realistically achievable for most people that live there, even the average person in tech.

Most engineers aren't trading a house in Santa Monica for a house in Texas. They are trading a house in South San Jose. That lifestyle is much less different.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#33
post #24

I’ve said this many times before but keep in mind that people were strongly opposed to the 40hr workweek and it ultimately led to higher productivity. Less illness and injury, primarily. Source: The Rise and Fall of American Growth.

Not sure there is causation there. A lot of factors contributed to the decrease in illness and injury, including the jobs themselves, a lot of the dangerous ones either got outsourced or died out.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#34
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

economy doing well? are you telling me that cities that are completely unaffordable and overrun with crime, homelessness, and drug abuse - along with mass exodus - are signs of a healthy economy? I live here. I'm fighting the good fight - and it isn't working. It's getting worse every day.

I think from a politics standpoint yeah I’m kind of a doomer. I identify as liberal but the people running on liberal platform are really dumb and their opponents are insane/dumb in other ways. There’s no good options to vote for. Idk how we will manage to wade through that.

I kinda think part of the problem is the pervasive expectation that there should be someone to vote for with a Platform They Believe In And You Should Too. That's fundamentally at odds with the mechanics of our system, where you need to build coalitions of people who can at least agree that this set of compromises is better than the set pitched by the other candidates.

And actually, I think finding compromises is fundamentally what this tech is for, right? "How do we make decisions with neighbors we disagree with, mostly without shooting?"

But because platforms are compromises, the demand for leaders that Truly Believe in their platform gives us people pretending to be crazy and stupid. With maybe some genuinely crazy and/or stupid mixed in (but I'm not confident that I can actually distinguish) and lots of layers of "it's complicated" on top.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#36

[flagged]

You're probably getting downvoted because you're coming at this from a bad place, but asking what's the ideal time per week spent working (depending on the job and what you're optimizing for) and what's the minimum where you're still effective is fair to ask.

When it's about work you don't do for pleasure or passion, the rule is simple: the least worked the better.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#38
post #2

Serious question, and maybe this is just based on the people I've met: I've been hearing lots of business owners complaining about California's labor laws getting increasingly hostile which leads companies to relocate or move as many resources they can outside of CA, much like Tesla did. Does anyone else share that sentiment? I personally think that this is well-intentioned but has consequences that need to be though…

Tesla's 'move' was a PR thing -- the great majority of the engineering team is staying in CA.

Re: Proposed bill would shorten California workweek to 32 hours

#39
Increasingly, American political parties are most interested in seizing and wielding power, and I feel like most citizens are occupied with surrendering and assigning that power to their preferred political party. How in the world did we get here? Is there any way we can turn back?

Most of the discussion here is about whether mandating business practice would be a good or a bad business move, but hardly anyone is questioning whether this is a good or legitimate role for those in government to decree and mandate. More and more, I see governments mandating changes that already appear to be underway, but in a way that accrues the praise and rewards to themselves. Most Americans seem to be complicit in this transformation, continually voting greater and greater control and authority away from the people and toward government powers.

Post reply on HN