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A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

economist.com

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Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#11

Post by blitzar »

obudo wrote: post #8
snehk wrote: post #5

The takeaway for employers: People putting out as much work in four days as they did in five. That must mean that the previous requirement was too low and should be increased.

Time to launch a consulting startup and promise a 20% increase in productivity

Lacking the grindset there - my consulting startup offers a 75% increase in productivity, via a 7 day a week schedule at the daily output shown in this trial.

You can trebble that if you dont let the employees sleep or eat as well, for details you would have to sign up for the platinum package.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#12

Post by lostlogin »

barryvan wrote: post #9
88 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People aren't always available, so you have to work around or wait. I would have thought if everyone moved to four-day workweeks, they would all take the same day off, essentially extending the weekend.

Not where I am! Rather, it's a negotiation with your manager to see what works best. That way, we can ensure we have coverage across the week. We're all "on" for Mondays and Tuesdays, and then people take Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday off according to preference and suitability. Yes, more people take Friday than Thursday, but quite a lot of people enjoy the zen-like lack of distraction when they work Fridays. Or so…

The pro tip is to work Monday, and thereby catch nearly all the stat days.

Some enlightened countries pro-rata stat days, but New Zealand doesn’t.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#13

Post by lostlogin »

snehk wrote: post #5

The takeaway for employers: People putting out as much work in four days as they did in five. That must mean that the previous requirement was too low and should be increased.

This assumes an awful lot about the type of work done. Many jobs are about being present between certain given hours.

Good luck getting 5 days work out of a nurse in 4 days.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#14

Post by unxdfa »

If they blasted middle management, management and process consultants, HR and ancillary corporate fluff staff into the sun we’d get 6 days of work done in 3 days and never have to suffer a Monday or Friday again.

But that doesn’t create jobs or indicate growth to investors.

Shaking the wrong end of the stick as always.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#15

Post by jpswade »

unxdfa wrote: post #14

If they blasted middle management, management and process consultants, HR and ancillary corporate fluff staff into the sun we’d get 6 days of work done in 3 days and never have to suffer a Monday or Friday again. But that doesn’t create jobs or indicate growth to investors. Shaking the wrong end of the stick as always.

If this were true, those roles wouldn't exist to begin with. Do you think perhaps there's a reason why those roles have come to be?

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#16

Post by hkt »

blitzar wrote: post #11
obudo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time to launch a consulting startup and promise a 20% increase in productivity

Lacking the grindset there - my consulting startup offers a 75% increase in productivity, via a 7 day a week schedule at the daily output shown in this trial. You can trebble that if you dont let the employees sleep or eat as well, for details you would have to sign up for the platinum package.

Is a package available where employees are taught that "unions" are where you formally marry the company?

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#17

Post by logifail »

barryvan wrote: post #4

Although I'm in Australia, I work for a UK-based edtech company (Wonde) that operates a four-day workweek -- having joined just over three months ago. I know that I can only contribute anecdata, but from my perspective I've not seen any reduction in output. Indeed, I've seen fewer meetings, and meetings defaulting to thirty minutes, rather than sixty. I've also seen more async communication -- not once have I receive…

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school

(Genuine question) but why wouldn't someone be able to have lunch with their OH while working a traditional 5-day week? Surely a lunch break is something everyone is entitled to even when they're working that day?

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#18

Post by kqr »

logifail wrote: post #17
barryvan wrote: post #4

Although I'm in Australia, I work for a UK-based edtech company (Wonde) that operates a four-day workweek -- having joined just over three months ago. I know that I can only contribute anecdata, but from my perspective I've not seen any reduction in output. Indeed, I've seen fewer meetings, and meetings defaulting to thirty minutes, rather than sixty. I've also seen more async communication -- not once have I receive…

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school (Genuine question) but why wouldn't someone be able to have lunch with their OH while working a traditional 5-day week? Surely a lunch break is something everyone is entitled to even when they're working that day?

With children, one or both parents often have to sacrifice their lunch breaks to get 40 hours of work in while still dropping off/picking up children at school, activities, etc.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#19

Post by unxdfa »

jpswade wrote: post #15
unxdfa wrote: post #14

If they blasted middle management, management and process consultants, HR and ancillary corporate fluff staff into the sun we’d get 6 days of work done in 3 days and never have to suffer a Monday or Friday again. But that doesn’t create jobs or indicate growth to investors. Shaking the wrong end of the stick as always.

If this were true, those roles wouldn't exist to begin with. Do you think perhaps there's a reason why those roles have come to be?

Yes they exist because it’s the status quo of corporate structure. I haven’t seen any evidence that adding these staff to a problem actually have a measurable impact on productivity, ROI or decrease organisational risk.

Re: A pilot scheme to trail the four-day workweek in Britain deemed a success (2022)

#20

Post by barryvan »

logifail wrote: post #17
barryvan wrote: post #4

Although I'm in Australia, I work for a UK-based edtech company (Wonde) that operates a four-day workweek -- having joined just over three months ago. I know that I can only contribute anecdata, but from my perspective I've not seen any reduction in output. Indeed, I've seen fewer meetings, and meetings defaulting to thirty minutes, rather than sixty. I've also seen more async communication -- not once have I receive…

> I love that I [..] can (shock!) go out to lunch with my wife during the week while the kids are at school (Genuine question) but why wouldn't someone be able to have lunch with their OH while working a traditional 5-day week? Surely a lunch break is something everyone is entitled to even when they're working that day?

Oh, absolutely! I have all the regular breaks etc. When I said "go out to lunch" I meant it more in the sense of "go out for a _loooong_ lunch involving a few courses and a bottle or two of wine". ;)
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