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Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#21

Post by abledon »

Anyone working at MSFT know if the work hours vary according to your country? e.g. If you are in the US, do you punch in at 9 and go home at 5? how about Europe? If you transfer offices from Seattle USA, to say, London UK, do you suddenly get more vacation days due to EU standards?

I hear Japan has cultural practices where workers are supposed to remain in the office until the boss goes home. Was it like this at MSFT before they tried the 4-day a week experiment? Or were they doing a Westernized 9-5 gig? Which in that case, would probably already be viewed as a 'dream' lifestyle to normal overworked Japanese citizens.

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#22

Post by ChrisLomont »

me_me_me wrote: post #9
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s the same reason why most big corps oppose a national healthcare system in the US: it keeps people locked in to their current positions and has the knock-on effect of putting downward pressure on wages and turnover expenses. Is this... true?

One thing that has always came true throughout my life is a phrase: "If you don't know why, its money." Why there is no national healthcare - money, someone makes a ton of it by preventing nationalization of healthcare system. Everything that doesn't make sense, has better alternatives (somehow not adopted) always boils down to money :(

>Why there is no national healthcare - money, someone makes a ton of it by preventing nationalization of healthcare system

It could also be that things cost money, and taxpayers don't want to pay for some things.

The Democrats have decided that the rich must pay for it. Republicans have decided that it's too costly. By splitting the crowd, we have reached an impasse.

We could do what every other country has done, and have everyone pay more in taxes to get it, but both sets of votes have blocked it. Dems want European benefits without European taxes levied on the middle class. Reps realize how much these plans will cost and scare people with taxes in general. The end result is people want others to solve their problems instead of accepting the pain and paying for it.

It's not companies - it's voters. And it would cost a lot more in the US than anywhere else, and it's no single point of cost added - every part here cost more, from doctor and nurse salaries, to drugs (which are a small part of overall cost), to people wanting more end of life care, and on and on.

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#24

Post by jhenkens »

jacquesm wrote: post #20
_hn_throw_away wrote: post #12

(This is a duplicate of a story posted this past weekend. I want to copy my comment from it for greater visibility.) Fuck everything about 5 day work weeks. I'll gladly switch to any job that offers a 4 day work week. It's one of the best perks. As someone with ADHD, work days are entirely spent getting work done. There isn't any extra slack or allotment for personal tasks. They're 100% owned by the employer. Weekend…

You can contract for 4 days per week at plenty of employers. It's called a part-time job.

Which is the problem. We're trying to say we've generally exhausted our productive capabilities after 4 days of work per week, which is what this article was saying as well.

If I've contributed my maximum amount in 4 days rather than 5, it should not be called part time. Part time should be reserved for instances where you are indeed contributing less than a full amount per week, such that you could hold two part time jobs.

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#25

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ekianjo wrote: post #10
_visgean wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is better source - I was very skeptical from the original thread because the source did not seem trustworthy. I think BBC is slightly more reliable..

> BBC is slightly more reliable You mean in general or only in the context of this article? because the BBC is certainly not a channel devoid of bias (just check this: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-BBC-called-British-Bullshit-Cor... )

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/bbc/

Maybe a slight left bias although personally I think it's more a bias to the current sitting government.

However there is plenty of UK media that sees the BBC as unfair competition and would love to see it disappear.

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#26

Post by bluesign »

"During the month-long trial, electricity consumption had been reduced by 23% and paper printing by 59% compared with August 2018, Microsoft said."

Oh I think MS didn't say that. [1]

Paper and electricity was compared to August 2016, as far as I can see from the image.

Actually they look like on the trend line.

[1] https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1189857355908833280/Pz8s9574?...

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#27

Post by devy »

notus wrote: post #2

> In contrast, Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba, has championed 12-hour working days. In April 2019, he described the "996" pattern, in which workers do 09:00-21:00 shifts, six days a week, as "a blessing". Yikes, that sounds depressing. > A report commissioned by the Labour Party in the UK suggested a four-day working week would be "unrealistic". The report seems to be missing the point o…

> Yikes, that sounds depressing.

Perhaps - but more depressing is losing a high paying job and earning a minimum wage with no hope of living a comfortably life, in that local context. Taken it out of context makes it further apart from the true meaning.

Success has no shortcuts - it requires 100k+ hours of hard working and perseverance. Working leisurely is for the folks that are already prosper (read: take a look at Microsoft employees' avg. salaries.)

Working less and living a good life? No, you can't have it both ways, unless you're already rich.

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#28

Post by nhumrich »

While I really appreciate the conclusion and goals of the study, I wonder how accurate this test really is. Imagine your boss told you, "we are going to test out 4 hour work weeks". You are naturally going to be productive during the entire experiment because you want to keep the 4 day week. If left as a permanent perk for longer than a year, does productivity slink back down below the 5 day?

Re: Microsoft 4-day week boosts productivity and sales

#30

Post by jacquesm »

jhenkens wrote: post #24
jacquesm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can contract for 4 days per week at plenty of employers. It's called a part-time job.

Which is the problem. We're trying to say we've generally exhausted our productive capabilities after 4 days of work per week, which is what this article was saying as well. If I've contributed my maximum amount in 4 days rather than 5, it should not be called part time. Part time should be reserved for instances where you are indeed contributing less than a full amount per week, such that you could hold two part tim…

Well, if enough people do it then it will be full time. It's more about what is considered to be the norm than anything else, and of course you will get paid for four days, not five. But over time pay will go up again and then we can repeat the cycle with three days. The interesting question is not 6, 5 or 4 but what the lower limit is. I suspect still quite a bit lower than 4.
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