Filimundus switched to a six-hour day last year, and says that
the change hasn't really made a major difference in how people
work. The leadership team just asked people to stay off social
media and personal distractions, and eliminated some standard
weekly meetings.
Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
21–30 of 105 posts
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#22As a swede I think the title is highly misleading. Sweden is not shifting to a 6-hour workday. Sure there are a few experiments but the baseline is that sweden (which has a huge public sector) cannot afford it without raising taxes further. The current forecasts for the future indicates that taxes has to be raised a lot just to maintain the current standard. I would be very surprised if the 6 hour workday would be pr…
As an American, I'm interested in knowing why it would require Sweden to raise taxes. Since you mentioned a huge public sector, is it a case of needing extra workers to work shifts so that pubic services are run at the usual hours?
I imagine private companies would be able to get away with it, as long as all their competitors also switch to six-hour workdays.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#23Standardizing work always leads to problems.
Some individuals need 3 hours, others 12 hours. The only question is whether the job is done.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#24I probably work about 10 hours per week, offsetting that by basically being available 24-7 if needed. Luckily, that's very rare. I guarantee my workload and quality of work excels my coworkers who are in the office 40+ hours a week. The 40 hour work week is totally ineffective for most industries but, alas, America would never move away from it.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#25Can't wait till this happens in North America. I hope we realize shorter work days and basic income in the next couple of decades. Then we will truly have a golden age.
I fully expect the US to be the very last to switch.
That's reasonable. We've been the last on so many other progressive social changes.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#26Can't wait till this happens in North America. I hope we realize shorter work days and basic income in the next couple of decades. Then we will truly have a golden age.
Where will we get the money for that? We're already trillions of dollars short on future obligations.
Our mounting debt is a real problem, no joke. But the ideas behind basic income and shorter work days do not inherently require our government to spend more than the already astronomical sums it's currently leaking.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#27Can't wait till this happens in North America. I hope we realize shorter work days and basic income in the next couple of decades. Then we will truly have a golden age.
Where will we get the money for that? We're already trillions of dollars short on future obligations.
"Trillions of dollars" doesn't really give any insight into the scope of the problem, it just suggests the number is really large.
The scope of the problem is that we have about 1.5 years worth of GDP in debt. So, with yearly payments of 10% of GDP, we could pay down the debt in 15 years. Suppose through automation we increase productivity by 50%. We could shorten the work week by 25%, add a tax to pay down 10% of the debt each year, and still maintain exactly the same standard of living while paying down the national debt in 10 years.
Point being, the United States has no shortage of money to pay down our obligations.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#28Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#29Can't wait till this happens in North America. I hope we realize shorter work days and basic income in the next couple of decades. Then we will truly have a golden age.
I fully expect the US to be the very last to switch.
I'm kind of Ok with letting other countries try this one out first. I'm receptive to the idea of basic income, but the potential unintended consequences seem terrifying.
Re: Some companies in Sweden are testing a six-hour work day
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where will we get the money for that? We're already trillions of dollars short on future obligations.
"Trillions of dollars" doesn't really give any insight into the scope of the problem, it just suggests the number is really large. The scope of the problem is that we have about 1.5 years worth of GDP in debt. So, with yearly payments of 10% of GDP, we could pay down the debt in 15 years. Suppose through automation we increase productivity by 50%. We could shorten the work week by 25%, add a tax to pay down 10% of th…
The obligations extend well beyond the debt. Social security, medicare, and medicaid will be much more costly than the debt for at least 20 years (at current levels). Public sector pensions are another huge non-debt liability.