Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 368 posts

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#81

Post by quacked »

jimmygrapes wrote: post #71
quacked wrote: post #16

I don't like the Four Day Work Week because most of the people who are allowed to experiment with it are working on bullshit. I'm not a big Graeber fan, but I emphatically agree with his idea that the majority of actual hours worked inside the continental US are largely useless make-work in order to justify the existence of a monied consumer class. Such a huge amount of the actual work that needs to be done so that w…

Fully agreed, but please don't discount the domestic workforce keeping things going alongside those other categories of workers. Some of us work long hours and extra days not because we are abused by a parody of a capitalist boss/system, but because the work needs to be done and we take pride in supporting the progress of humanity (for better or worse). That plumbing issue, that damaging weather event, that medical e…

You're right. When I deliver the rant in the future I'll add that caveat. There are tons of domestic builders, drivers, operators, officers, longshoremen, etc. that work long, long nights and days to make society happen, who are part of the first-world.

You are who I believe deserves a four- or three-day work week. However, there are so many lower-middle and upper-low class people working these jobs that there's just no incentive to do so, and instead layoffs are focused on making you work harder, for more, with less. All the while I and my ilk get comparatively large bonuses for comparatively lackadaisical work weeks.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#82

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

nerdbert wrote: post #73
TeMPOraL wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usual counterpoint is that you're not being paid just for the things you get done, but also for availability - for being there when there's a need to handle something unexpected. This has real value to a business, so you being available for 80% of the time justifies some degree of pay cut.

If that's the case, then there should be a clear understanding that I am completely unavailable from the moment I leave the office for the day.

...that's how I've been forever, aside from those few jobs that required more availability. In those cases, it was part of my job description, so agreed upon by all parties before I took the job.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#84

Post by bobsmooth »

cooperadymas wrote: post #51

Something I've never understood is why four days? Is it simply because it's an incremental improvement over the current five day week, a stopping point toward the next target, or is it the target?

3 * 12 is the best imo. After 3 days I'm ready for the weekend and after 4 days I'm itching to get back to being productive.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#85

Post by lettergram »

Good, you all work 4 days and I’ll work my standard 6x10 6 days, 10hrs a day.

When people get fired presumably I’ll still be standing. When promotion time comes around, the person who does the most will get the promotion. When bonus time comes, I’ll have the most done.

You can try to regulate day(s), but if there’s people willing to work more they’ll set the standard.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#86

Post by the_gipsy »

nerdbert wrote: post #73
TeMPOraL wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usual counterpoint is that you're not being paid just for the things you get done, but also for availability - for being there when there's a need to handle something unexpected. This has real value to a business, so you being available for 80% of the time justifies some degree of pay cut.

If that's the case, then there should be a clear understanding that I am completely unavailable from the moment I leave the office for the day.

Are you doing unpaid overtime?

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#87

Post by Tiktaalik »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #62

I could see quite a few companies reaching for this over pay rises. Considering inflation right now, it may make sense to suggest a 4 day working week at their existing pay versus offering an inflation beating pay rise.

or I could see it as another tool in the toolbox for smaller private companies that simply cannot match the offers of the big FAANG tech companies with their sky high pay and oodles of RSUs.

A private tech company can't match what Apple can do in financial compensation, but what they can offer is better quality of life. Previously that might have been something around benefits and vacation days, but four day work week is a new lever.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#88

Post by lettergram »

mrmincent wrote: post #3

I’ve gone down to 4 days, taking Fridays off to look after my son, and I certainly won’t be going back to 5 days until he’s in school. Looking after a toddler all day isn’t exactly a day off, but it is extremely rewarding, and something I’d recommend to any parent thinking about dropping down a day. It definitely has some downsides however, I’m the only one in the team that’s off that day, so there’s usually meetings…

I actually work 6 days a week (only Sunday off) noon until midnight with a two hour break 5-7pm.

That’s 60 hrs of work a week, but I get to spend every morning 7am-noon with my kids. It’s been a great change of pace for me personally. We have a garden we do as a family, I can do doc appointments, some field trips, etc. while still working extremely hard. It’s not for everyone, but that schedule has been great for me personally.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#89

Post by Frost1x »

standardUser wrote: post #50

I think it's worth considering that, in the US, the ultimate leap from 5 to 4 day work weeks would require a change in labor laws to mandate full-time status and overtime pay cutoff at 32 hours/week. Close to 60% of US workers are hourly. I can't predict all of the ramifications from that kind of change, but I have to imagine it would largely benefit workers. I wish we had a major political party that was at least wi…

>We all know this "40 hours" nonsense is just historical happenstance, not some ideal or even well-reasoned number, let alone balanced in the interest of the overwhelming majority (working people).

The more and more I see cases like this that exist, the more I feel it's yet more supporting evidence that the US is a failing democracy. We can point fingers and play responsibility games, we can claim its minority protection (are wealthy and powerful individuals really a minority that need more protection in our current structure or should they even be considered a minority), but at the end of the day it doesn't seem to be working in some respects. If we aren't seeing labor law improvements and most fall in labor, something seems amiss.

I'm not advocating for mob rule, there are very good reasons for minority protections, but in some cases when the majority of a democratic society abhors the state of affairs yet we continually have no significant influence to at least try something different, that to me says we're in a failing or failed democracy charading around as a democracy. The older I get, the more I want to call a duck a duck if it walks, quacks, and looks like a duck.

Re: World’s largest four-day work week trial finds few are going back

#90

Post by agubelu »

ravenstine wrote: post #21

Good. If civilization isn't moving to improve quality of life, but to make sure that we keep working more and more, we have to ask ourselves what exactly is the point of technological progress.

I wholeheartedly agree. Our time here on Earth is limited, and I think that as a society we should aim to work less and have more time for ourselves and enjoy everyting life has to offer.

The huge productivity increase in the last 40 years have been entirely siphoned into maximizing profits while working conditions have remained essentially stagnant, so I'd say it's about time to start making some progress on this front.

Post reply on HN