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Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

fortune.com

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Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#31

Post by alephnerd »

bsimpson wrote: post #28
niek_pas wrote: post #2

"Asia" didn't roll out anything. Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Pakistan rolled out independent measures.

Especially because it sounds like the Philippines is pushing for a 4 day workweek, but the rest of SEA is asking people to work from home, use less AC, take the stairs…

It's also Vietnam, Thailand, and unofficially Pakistan.

The reality is the bigger Asian nations like China, India, SK, and Japan that worked on building resilient alternatives after the 2022-23 ONG shock due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine aren't as dramatically impacted. The others didn't or were hit by other crises at the same time.

For example, in Pakistan's case, their government raised fuel taxes by around 33% because they didn't meet their IMF loan terms [0] but somehow found $11M to buy a private jet [1] for the CM of Punjab who is also the niece of the PM and the daughter of the former PM and Pakistan is in the middle of a war with Afghanistan [2].

Edit: can't reply

> gas cylinder booking...

The gas cylinder/LPG issue is due to consumer habits - induction and electric stovetops have been available in India for decades, but there has been a cultural aversion to adopting electric.

Even Indian Americans in the US prefer using Gas Stovetops over Electric for cultural reasons (eg. I've had my parents say the "taste" of food is worse on electric instead of gas stovetops despite living here since Clinton was president).

And dhabas and restaurants used to use coal briquettes or kerosene until those were banned in the 2000s-2010s for pollution reasons (much help that did /s) and to promote LNG and CNG, and will most likely revert back to those.

Additionally, India has shifted from Qatari to Omani LNG [3], which was what India was already using before the India-Qatar FTA led to a diplomatic thaw between the two.

It's the same situation in Vietnam as well.

> freight is pretty much fucked

Indian diesel prices are being subsidized and kept constant [4]. That said, this is a good forcing function to begin India's shift to electric trucks.

And freight and passenger rail is already around 98-99% electrified in India [5] which reduces the need for diesel.

[0] - https://www.dawn.com/news/1979709

[1] - https://www.arabnews.com/node/26978/pakistan

[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Afghanistan%E2%80%93Pakis...

[3] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-gail-buys-oman...

[4] - https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/petrol-diesel-prices-to-rema...

[5] - https://infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/railways/ind...

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#32

Post by butILoveLife »

lossyalgo wrote: post #22
butILoveLife wrote: post #4

[flagged]

So you're saying we should only put extroverted people in the office and introverted people get to WFH? ;)

Honestly... maybe... I've thought about this.

But I also am a bit reluctant to hire introverts for this specific (entry level) job. They will not ask for help to their and my detriment.

Being a bit casual and not making grand claims: I should hire Senior introverts and have them WFH. I should hire entry level extroverts and have them in person.

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#33

Post by butILoveLife »

apercu wrote: post #30
butILoveLife wrote: post #4

[flagged]

That's not a global issue though - I have people who I have worked with for years, we're highly productive and we've never met in person. Especially these days where it's soooo easy to chat, video call, share screens, etc.

But would you be more productive in person? I am just describing my experience. In a 4 hour block, people will ask a dozen questions in-person. WFH, I'm lucky to get a single phone call despite begging them to call to ask questions.

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#34

Post by neaden »

niek_pas wrote: post #2

"Asia" didn't roll out anything. Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Pakistan rolled out independent measures.

The thing I feel like is really important to remember whenever thinking about the world and demographics is that most people are Asian. As in more people live in Asia then outside of it. Conversely when a headline or something mentions Asia, it is rare they actually mean the majority of the continent or people living there.

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#35

Post by fulafel »

niek_pas wrote: post #2

"Asia" didn't roll out anything. Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Pakistan rolled out independent measures.

It's a common pattern in HN headlines to assign agency to non-US continents and countries. We hear Europe and China doing stuff all the time as well. It's strange.

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#36

Post by achierius »

fulafel wrote: post #35
niek_pas wrote: post #2

"Asia" didn't roll out anything. Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Pakistan rolled out independent measures.

It's a common pattern in HN headlines to assign agency to non-US continents and countries. We hear Europe and China doing stuff all the time as well. It's strange.

Isn't that a good deal more reasonable though? China, as a polity, does indeed have agency. It's strange to suggest they don't, as if only America can do things on the world stage.

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#37

Post by thewhitetulip »

niek_pas wrote: post #2

"Asia" didn't roll out anything. Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Pakistan rolled out independent measures.

Can't expect Western media to write well. I saw a funnt reel today. It's Italy to Americans but Eye-ran and Eye-raq...

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#38

Post by 01100011 »

scottious wrote: post #7

It's too bad that countries only consider things like this to address a crisis in fuel costs. Why not enact measures like this to curb the pollution and CO2? I guess it says a lot about what humanity truly values.

[flagged]

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#39

Post by thewhitetulip »

scottious wrote: post #7

It's too bad that countries only consider things like this to address a crisis in fuel costs. Why not enact measures like this to curb the pollution and CO2? I guess it says a lot about what humanity truly values.

"Leave the petro-billionaires alone!" Seems to be the driving force

Imagine if the world had aggressively invested in renewables at any time in the past ten years!

Re: Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war

#40

Post by devsda »

lizknope wrote: post #15
scottious wrote: post #7

It's too bad that countries only consider things like this to address a crisis in fuel costs. Why not enact measures like this to curb the pollution and CO2? I guess it says a lot about what humanity truly values.

We saw how much less pollution there was during the pandemic https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/04/8110190... I worked from home but a few times I needed to go to my parents house during what used to be rush hour. Less than 5% of normal traffic and fuel demand dropped so much that prices were lower. My job went hybrid in 2022 and then return to office full time last year. Everyone hates it. It's a wast…

Some believe that few organizations are actually real-estate businesses masquerading as tech, restaurant or other types.

For those kind of business having full occupancy is more important than worker productivity.

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