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Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#231

Post by jeffparsons »

Fr3dd1 wrote: post #180
Apreche wrote: post #19

I just recently started a 32 hour a week salaried job. Here’s my story. I was at a very good job. My ultimate goal is to just go to the beach and not work at all. I realized that’s too big of a leap, so I set a shorter term more realistic goal of working 4 days a week. My employer at the time rejected the idea, so instead of ignoring recruiters like usual, I answered them. If a job wasn’t immoral, the interview proce…

Context: I do recruiting as a team lead. I am happy you found what you were looking for. But from my pov, if you want to work less than fulltime and thats a non negotiable thing for you, please be open up front with the people who interview you. Typically when a full time position is offered, the workload of a full person is needed (lets not discuss if 8h of work a day results in better or more output than less hours…

To be fair, most employers include a lot of things in their job ads that shouldn't necessarily be taken literally or in the strictest sense possible. For example, a decent chunk of ads I've seen ask for a set of qualifications that would leave them with zero applicants if taken literally. I've also heard from multiple hiring managers and recruiters that "if you're not qualified but you really want to job, you should apply anyway".

Applying for a "full time" job, if you expect to be able to handle a "full time workload" is not a great stretch.

Also, as several other commenters have pointed out, employers routinely leave a lot of critical details out in the early stages — especially details that might make applicants not bother applying at all. Unless you're very clearly a rare exception to that norm (i.e. an applicant can tell that easily from the job ad) then it's a bit rich to expect applicants to lay everything on the table before you've even met.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#232

Post by stevenhuang »

winrid wrote: post #167
Apreche wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not. I would live in a beach house, and I would indeed spend many hours laying in the sand, swimming in the ocean, etc. But I wouldn't literally spend the entire rest of my life doing nothing else at all. There would be socializing with friends and family, traveling, and taking care of my affairs. I would also spend plenty of time on hobbies of all sorts. The key is that I would be living a life of complet…

That's not capitalism to blame, that's just the free market. I'm not sure any system will let you live this life without a significant investment back into it, first.

Well if anything a post-scarcity system would do it.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#234

Post by [deleted] »

Fr3dd1 wrote: post #180
Apreche wrote: post #19

I just recently started a 32 hour a week salaried job. Here’s my story. I was at a very good job. My ultimate goal is to just go to the beach and not work at all. I realized that’s too big of a leap, so I set a shorter term more realistic goal of working 4 days a week. My employer at the time rejected the idea, so instead of ignoring recruiters like usual, I answered them. If a job wasn’t immoral, the interview proce…

Context: I do recruiting as a team lead. I am happy you found what you were looking for. But from my pov, if you want to work less than fulltime and thats a non negotiable thing for you, please be open up front with the people who interview you. Typically when a full time position is offered, the workload of a full person is needed (lets not discuss if 8h of work a day results in better or more output than less hours…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#235

Post by xtiansimon »

Not 32 hours specifically. Mine started with a volunteer commitment when I started a new job. That was fine, because I was starting and they wanted trial period, and part-time was ok.

Also, the best commute time (pre-Rona) put me in my seat 0700-0800. And the best return train had me leave at 1750. This basically gave me four tens.

And pre-Rona my firm had a culture of work from home when you need to, wish, catch up.

Put all this together and people accepted my four day schedule, and work got done.

Plus, we’re a small company with a working owner. There is no BS attendance requirement—just productivity.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#237

Post by cr1895 »

krageon wrote: post #206
Lutger wrote: post #194

Dutch here. Haven't worked more than 32 hours a week in 20 years. I did downgrade to 24 a week for a while, convinced my boss I wanted to do a masters and he let me. Salary was just enough to pay for everything. Its mostly normal to work 32 hours in my country. I feel 32 should be the norm actually. In my line of work - software development, 32, 36 and 40 hours are all very common. Less than 32 is really uncommon tho…

> Dutch > mostly normal to work 32 hour It is absolutely not if you work in the tech sector. The expectation is full-time and this is 40 hours at most companies.

I’d interpret their comment as 32 hour weeks being normal and acceptable, whether or not it is most common.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#238

Post by freemint »

Fr3dd1 wrote: post #180
Apreche wrote: post #19

I just recently started a 32 hour a week salaried job. Here’s my story. I was at a very good job. My ultimate goal is to just go to the beach and not work at all. I realized that’s too big of a leap, so I set a shorter term more realistic goal of working 4 days a week. My employer at the time rejected the idea, so instead of ignoring recruiters like usual, I answered them. If a job wasn’t immoral, the interview proce…

Context: I do recruiting as a team lead. I am happy you found what you were looking for. But from my pov, if you want to work less than fulltime and thats a non negotiable thing for you, please be open up front with the people who interview you. Typically when a full time position is offered, the workload of a full person is needed (lets not discuss if 8h of work a day results in better or more output than less hours…

Why can't you just make more clear in the beginning that this position is full-time and only full-time and that (for what ever reason) you are not able to consider part time workers for this job?

There is an information asymmetry. People want to disclose things that make them less attractive to employ as late as possible. Similarly there are things you don't tell the candidate beforehand too.

> Typically when a full time position is offered, the workload of a full person is needed

Yet when there is demand from prospective employees for something that is not offered (4 day week) but known to exist if you ask later in the interview process with some companies people will have to try if you are some company. Whether you are offering reduced time jobs or not for some positions that is available is an information you hold. You do not seem to want to hold that information back so you can make a decision depending on the candidate so you should very visibly perform send a costly signal that makes it clear reduced work hours are not possible. A costly signal would be "we are not able to consider non full-time applicants for this position".

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#239

Post by [deleted] »

mcv wrote: post #216
daniel_iversen wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a "chance to present my own full offer" when the role explicitly states full-time. That's called trying to re-negotiate and it's not great. Also, there's no way I'll let you convince me of formally hiring you at 32 hours because of the hassles involved on my side, and more importantly the slippery slope - say the next guy thinks he can do it in 16 hours, the next person is remote, the next person doesn't wan…

I think it's employers who've gotten a bit precious and spoiled, if they're so reluctant to consider the needs and desires of their employees.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Anyone working 4 day week here, as an employee?

#240

Post by fakelvis »

krageon wrote: post #206
Lutger wrote: post #194

Dutch here. Haven't worked more than 32 hours a week in 20 years. I did downgrade to 24 a week for a while, convinced my boss I wanted to do a masters and he let me. Salary was just enough to pay for everything. Its mostly normal to work 32 hours in my country. I feel 32 should be the norm actually. In my line of work - software development, 32, 36 and 40 hours are all very common. Less than 32 is really uncommon tho…

> Dutch > mostly normal to work 32 hour It is absolutely not if you work in the tech sector. The expectation is full-time and this is 40 hours at most companies.

Agree on this, and not just in tech.

I work for a large financial co in NL (~50k employees) and 36-hour contracts are the standard for all full-time employees. 32 is considered part-time for us.

Regardless, most people certainly work 4 days a week here. Of all my friends and contacts, I think I know of only a handful working 5 days a week.

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