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Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

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Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#11

Post by switchbak »

jaymzcampbell wrote: post #2

I swapped to a 4 day week (with relevant pay cut, which certainly made it easier to justify with my employer) in order to finish my MSc without burnout and it's changed my life. The entire balance of the working week has changed - 4 days is almost a 50-50 split which makes an enormous difference to your psychology (0.57:0.71). My employer has stated they've not noticed any change in productivity either, including on…

I had part of my team covertly swap to 4 day work weeks, while the rest of us were working our butts off. They kept their original pay.

There's a few ways to roll out 4 day work weeks. This was probably the worst.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#13

Post by Syonyk »

I've "corrupted" (from the point of view of GDP productivity and such) a lot of people into asking for (and mostly getting...) a 32h/week work schedule.

I've been doing it for almost 8 years now, and at this point, it's simply a non-negotiable in any sort of employment discussions (that, and not carrying a pager). I work Mon-Thu, 8h/day, and I'm generally unreachable Fri/Sat/Sun (doesn't mean I won't put in a long week on rare occasions, but think "once a year or less" sort of frequency). The work/life balance is far better, and it aligns better with my family (the local public school is only Mon-Thu as well).

Just ask about it. I know some people who've managed full pay for 80% hours, but generally "80% pay for 80% hours" is entirely reasonable too, and I've found (as a rather extreme DIY sort) that the extra money isn't missed, because I have more time to do things myself on the weekend. I can practically spend quite a few Fridays a year doing major DIY work, and come out ahead.

I genuinely cannot say enough good things about it. Try it. You won't miss 40s.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#14

Post by throwitaway222 »

Do we really need another slap in the face to "employees that have to move muscles" - if 4 to 20x pay, working from home wasn't enough, now they only work 4 days a week!!

Yes those people read reddit, hackernews and other sources.

edit: OK - didn't notice this was for "employees that move muscles" Carry on then

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#15

Post by baggy_trough »

soperj wrote: post #7
kfk wrote: post #6

If investors still expect the same returns, four-day work week being in effect a labor cost increase will be a no go. And before you mention “productivity”, keep in mind that from the looks of it, AI and tech driven productivity gains go to shareholders, those owning the IPs and the means of production. Yes you can push laws to push companies, but then you are over regulating your country and that too is problematic.

We have laws now. Are they problematic?

Certainly in many cases.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#16

Post by avgcorrection »

kfk wrote: post #6

If investors still expect the same returns, four-day work week being in effect a labor cost increase will be a no go. And before you mention “productivity”, keep in mind that from the looks of it, AI and tech driven productivity gains go to shareholders, those owning the IPs and the means of production. Yes you can push laws to push companies, but then you are over regulating your country and that too is problematic.

1. Those owning the means of production converging on amassing every surplus productivity gain

2. “Over regulating” my country

I wonder which I would choose.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#17

Post by michaelt »

Once when buying a house, I had to go through a lengthy paperwork process with someone who worked a three-day week, and it was an infuriating experience.

They wanted a great deal of documentation sent by post, and their three day work-week meant they'd ask me on Tuesday for some piece of documentation, I'd mail it the same day, and by the time it arrived they'd left for the week so I couldn't expect a reply until the next Tuesday at the absolute earliest.

I sure hope any move towards shorter work weeks doesn't turn into an excuse for lengthy bureaucratic processes to become even lengthier.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#18

Post by RandomLensman »

kfk wrote: post #6

If investors still expect the same returns, four-day work week being in effect a labor cost increase will be a no go. And before you mention “productivity”, keep in mind that from the looks of it, AI and tech driven productivity gains go to shareholders, those owning the IPs and the means of production. Yes you can push laws to push companies, but then you are over regulating your country and that too is problematic.

These things are actually quite malleable.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#19

Post by savanaly »

bloopernova wrote: post #9

Considering the opposition to working from home from some parts of (USA) society, I have trouble seeing this get widely adopted. At least in the short to medium term. The anti-WFH people appear to fall into 3 camps: landlords and property owners, middle management who believe people are not as productive or efficient at home. And, as pointed out in a reply, there's also the group who believe that face to face communi…

I'm not even in the anti-WFH camp, but notice you've selectively omitted the most sympathetic camp (what is this argument tactic called? Strawmanning?). People who think teams will be more agile and innovative when they can have impromptu face-to-face conversations. I personally think that's true, but not a big enough deal to make me favor RTO. But it's not good to summarize an issue in such a way that the other side sounds like greedy bastards and yours sounds eminently reasonable.

Re: Who will lead the charge to a four-day work week?

#20

Post by meheleventyone »

throwitaway222 wrote: post #14

Do we really need another slap in the face to "employees that have to move muscles" - if 4 to 20x pay, working from home wasn't enough, now they only work 4 days a week!! Yes those people read reddit, hackernews and other sources. edit: OK - didn't notice this was for "employees that move muscles" Carry on then

Are you saying manual labourers shouldn't also get a 4 day work week? It's just I don't think that was implied anywhere else.
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