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Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

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Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#11

Post by likeabbas »

thomasahle wrote: post #6

I like 4-day weeks, but what I would like even more is a month consecutive vacation a year. (Which is just 20-23 days off, rather than the ~50 Fridays every year.) This is pretty common places in Europe like France or Denmark (where you must take at least three weeks consecutive vacation.) Is this something any US companies are advertising?

Not specifically but I’ve managed to find my way onto two teams at different companies where I’m allowed to do so. The first company had unlimited PTO, the second company has 21 PTO days that roll over so I saved up last year to use them this year!

Today is the first day of my month long vacation in Italy on my new team

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#12

Post by drpancake »

microtonal wrote: post #8
drpancake wrote: post #4

I'm currently hiring for a 3-day workweek in case that's of interest: https://remoteok.com/remote-jobs/110323-remote-pt-full-stack... I had a job like this in the past and I loved the freedom of it the fact that I had plenty of energy left over to pursue other interests. So I wanted to recreate that for those that I hire. EDIT: my role is part-time so it's not a fair comparison.

This is a bit disingenuous. A 4-day work week usually means that a work week is reduced from 40 to 32 hours without a loss of compensation. Like previous reductions in work time, the theory is that while someone puts in fewer hours, it’s worth it because people can’t be fully productive for 40 hours. Your linked offer is a part-time position. It even states that you only get a cut of FTE and that there is the possibi…

That's a fair criticism! I didn't consider that 4-day usually implies the same compensation as a full workweek.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#13

Post by janosdebugs »

This may not exactly be the answer you are looking for, but Red Hat (my employer) has 4wd employees, even in my current team. Depending on the team, you may be able to negotiate a 4 day workweek without problems. However, you'd have to reside in a country where RH has an office. I have been at previous companies too where negotiating a shorter workweek was not a problem.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#14

Post by vkazanov »

thomasahle wrote: post #6

I like 4-day weeks, but what I would like even more is a month consecutive vacation a year. (Which is just 20-23 days off, rather than the ~50 Fridays every year.) This is pretty common places in Europe like France or Denmark (where you must take at least three weeks consecutive vacation.) Is this something any US companies are advertising?

At Bumble we have:

- an unlimited PTO (you'd have to explain going beyond, say, 4 weeks, but otherwise working)

- mandatory 2 payed weeks off (1 in December and 1 in Jun)

- mostly remote using the "office-hub" model, only requiring presence when necessary

- every 2 weeks there something we call a Focus Friday, when nobody can contact you and you are free to concentrate on things you want to work on.

This covers all offices, i.e. Texas, UK, Spain.

Pretty comfortable, I'd say. I don't feel I need more time to restore some energy.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#15

Post by ByteJockey »

microtonal wrote: post #8
drpancake wrote: post #4

I'm currently hiring for a 3-day workweek in case that's of interest: https://remoteok.com/remote-jobs/110323-remote-pt-full-stack... I had a job like this in the past and I loved the freedom of it the fact that I had plenty of energy left over to pursue other interests. So I wanted to recreate that for those that I hire. EDIT: my role is part-time so it's not a fair comparison.

This is a bit disingenuous. A 4-day work week usually means that a work week is reduced from 40 to 32 hours without a loss of compensation. Like previous reductions in work time, the theory is that while someone puts in fewer hours, it’s worth it because people can’t be fully productive for 40 hours. Your linked offer is a part-time position. It even states that you only get a cut of FTE and that there is the possibi…

> A 4-day work week usually means that a work week is reduced from 40 to 32 hours without a loss of compensation.

Is that what's being discussed here? My mind immediately went to a 4 10s situation (which, while not the norm, is fairly common in the US).

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#16

Post by zamadatix »

thomasahle wrote: post #6

I like 4-day weeks, but what I would like even more is a month consecutive vacation a year. (Which is just 20-23 days off, rather than the ~50 Fridays every year.) This is pretty common places in Europe like France or Denmark (where you must take at least three weeks consecutive vacation.) Is this something any US companies are advertising?

Anecdotally as someone in the US that used to do this I've never seen a place here specifically advertise "month consecutive vacation" but that doesn't mean I've found it hard to get either (for salaried positions at least).

Overall I'd say in the US there is a LOT more appetite for "how I'd like to allocate my PTO" vs things like "how I'd like to divvy my working hours" at most places.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#17

Post by hedora »

drpancake wrote: post #12
microtonal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit disingenuous. A 4-day work week usually means that a work week is reduced from 40 to 32 hours without a loss of compensation. Like previous reductions in work time, the theory is that while someone puts in fewer hours, it’s worth it because people can’t be fully productive for 40 hours. Your linked offer is a part-time position. It even states that you only get a cut of FTE and that there is the possibi…

That's a fair criticism! I didn't consider that 4-day usually implies the same compensation as a full workweek.

A pay cut seems OK, as long as benefits stay the same, and any equity deals stay (proportionally) the same.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#19

Post by nightski »

vkazanov wrote: post #14
thomasahle wrote: post #6

I like 4-day weeks, but what I would like even more is a month consecutive vacation a year. (Which is just 20-23 days off, rather than the ~50 Fridays every year.) This is pretty common places in Europe like France or Denmark (where you must take at least three weeks consecutive vacation.) Is this something any US companies are advertising?

At Bumble we have: - an unlimited PTO (you'd have to explain going beyond, say, 4 weeks, but otherwise working) - mandatory 2 payed weeks off (1 in December and 1 in Jun) - mostly remote using the "office-hub" model, only requiring presence when necessary - every 2 weeks there something we call a Focus Friday, when nobody can contact you and you are free to concentrate on things you want to work on. This covers all o…

Clearly it's not unlimited. On the one hand if your co-worker takes 4 weeks off then you'll feel cheated if you take 2. On the other if you take 4 weeks off you have no way of knowing if that is frowned upon. This seems like more stress than it is worth.

Re: Ask HN: Companies hiring for a 4-day workweek?

#20

Post by sakarisson »

vkazanov wrote: post #14
thomasahle wrote: post #6

I like 4-day weeks, but what I would like even more is a month consecutive vacation a year. (Which is just 20-23 days off, rather than the ~50 Fridays every year.) This is pretty common places in Europe like France or Denmark (where you must take at least three weeks consecutive vacation.) Is this something any US companies are advertising?

At Bumble we have: - an unlimited PTO (you'd have to explain going beyond, say, 4 weeks, but otherwise working) - mandatory 2 payed weeks off (1 in December and 1 in Jun) - mostly remote using the "office-hub" model, only requiring presence when necessary - every 2 weeks there something we call a Focus Friday, when nobody can contact you and you are free to concentrate on things you want to work on. This covers all o…

I'm glad that you're happy with the system, but I'm not satisfied with your comment. In my personal experience, people with "unlimited vacation" tend to take less overall vacation than I do, on a mandatory vacation time per year.

> (you'd have to explain going beyond, say, 4 weeks, but otherwise working)

Unless "I'd like to take a 5-week vacation" isn't enough explanation in itself, it clearly isn't working. An employee shouldn't have to justify _why_ they want to go on vacation.

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