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Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

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Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#131

Young people don't want to work hard because there's little incentive. No matter how hard you work, unless you're in the top 5%, you're far priced out of most places most people want to live. You can afford everything comfortably beside housing & health care (which you don't need much of when you're young) on a relatively low wage in the US. So you've pretty much given up on housing. What's the point in working hard?

As someone who worked very hard for 10y and was paid in some top percentile, the incentives still ran out. I'm bored of the meaningless high paid work, single and likely socially stunted and emotionally blunted from workaholism. But at least I can buy a house where none of my loved ones can, and who will eventually be priced out of renting even basement apts nearby.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#132

Give us Wednesday off, not Friday. Then we can rest between 2-day work spurts.

Don’t agree with this at all. The advantage of a three day weekend is that the extra day gives you time to tie things up, wind down, and actually be able to enjoy both days of the weekend instead of that only being true of Sunday (the tail end of which is fudged up by having to prepare for Monday).

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#134
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear - you can read the crystal ball much like the whole generation in terms of whats going to happen in the future? I'm glad everyone knows how the future is written, I for one don't know and am quite curious.

Of course you have predictions and some things are more probable than others. I'm pretty sure that fertility is going to keep dropping and extreme weather is going to get worse in the mid-term future.

Agree but building a whole narrative how definitely life will be worse in the future really binds yourself to a bad mental trajectory. The default option is to not put the effort in because why bother? Where would we be as humans if that was our internal resolve.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#135

Young people don't want to work hard because there's little incentive. No matter how hard you work, unless you're in the top 5%, you're far priced out of most places most people want to live. You can afford everything comfortably beside housing & health care (which you don't need much of when you're young) on a relatively low wage in the US. So you've pretty much given up on housing. What's the point in working hard?

Peasants under Feudalism had zero hope progressing. Upward mobility is probably something every generation has complained about throughout history. Economic nihilism isn’t the answer. Our future generations count on us to improve whatever cards we’re dealt

I just see it as the system reaching equilibrium on some meta level. You have to do better than the norm to break out of the norm. And if everyone can do it, then it's the norm and not what you want.

Now, whether that's right or if the norm is a good place for the majority of people - That's a different matter entirely.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#136
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a more grown-up arrangement where businesses realise that regular time off (and as much time as you need if ill) increases happiness and therefore productivity. Is there a metric of some sort that I can share with other people that demonstrates 4 weeks PTO does work and has led to increased productivity in Australia? I personally believe in shorter work weeks, but my experience is anecdotal, so was wondering i…

I’m confused. It kinda sounds you are asking what metric needs to have a bias for it in a study. If you otherwise have information that you believe would demonstrate the point, just share that.

I'm asking for any material that supports this statement: "businesses realise that regular time off (and as much time as you need if ill) increases happiness and therefore productivity."

Productivity can be measured and if that productivity was increased then those statistics should be more visible!

I would love to have a 4-day work week.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#137

Give us Wednesday off, not Friday. Then we can rest between 2-day work spurts.

It probably wouldn't be practical for small companies, but what I'd really love would be a rotating third day off that moved between Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I don't think it'd make sense to rotate through all days because having it on a Tuesday or Thursday would just be annoying to go back to work for one day before having another break day.

With a MWF rotation you'd get 4 on, 2 off, 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off, 4 off, repeat and having that four day weekend every three weeks would really open up weekend trips that require more travel.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is wanting to live less than an hour commute to work "the most niche place on earth"? Most people I know are renting because they can't afford anything within an hour commute and we have grown up hearing and seeing the pains of the commuter life. So why saddle ourselves with both a 30 year mortgage for a overpriced home that will also drain us of 10+hrs/week

Sounds like a lifestyle choice. Stop packing into cities like a can of sardines and it wont be an issue. Being inflexible to literal physics and reality is a personal issue.

If you want to work and have a life, stop living where jobs are! Simply don't make adequate money to survive! Simply die!

Being unaware of reality is also a personal issue too, bud.

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#139
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m confused. It kinda sounds you are asking what metric needs to have a bias for it in a study. If you otherwise have information that you believe would demonstrate the point, just share that.

I'm asking for any material that supports this statement: "businesses realise that regular time off (and as much time as you need if ill) increases happiness and therefore productivity." Productivity can be measured and if that productivity was increased then those statistics should be more visible! I would love to have a 4-day work week.

[deleted]

Re: Young people would sacrifice other perks for a 4-day workweek

#140
post #116
post #12

Moving back to the US after living abroad I was used to month long holidays. I applied to a few companies and tried to negotiate 5 weeks PTO. They wouldn't budge. Then 4 weeks. Still no. I offered to drop my salary in exchange for vacation. Still no. I asked HR why everything else was negotiable except PTO and they told me I would have more time off then people who've been there for 7+ years. This was my first clue t…

Asking for more pay with their standard PTO and as-needed UTO (Unpaid Time Off) might have been more successful.

I could do that. I'd rather have it officially on the books rather than hack something together that could be used against me later, ie "This guys seems to be out of office more than usual."
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