Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 78 posts

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#41

Post by danieltillett »

daxfohl wrote: post #14

Anybody else feeling like if we're young and healthy we should actively try to contract this thing, self-isolate for a few weeks, and be done with it? It feels almost like this would be the most socially responsible thing to do: reduce the effective R0 and allow things to start getting back to normality. I'm the farthest thing from a "reopen" protester. But I can't help thinking that as a young and healthy individual…

If only it were that simple. Coronavirus only induce a short lived immunity (40 weeks is the average). With the common cold varieties you basically catch the same virus over and over again as you don’t build up any long term immunity to them.

The end result of all this is you would get sick and then be at risk of getting sick again next year and the year after that all the while putting at risk anyone who is vulnerable.

There is really only one way out of this mess - a vaccine.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#42

Post by eweise »

aphextron wrote: post #2

We just need to make the office an optional place that people can gather when they feel the need to. I have no problem at all working a 5 day 40 hours work week from home. But this nonsense of everyone waking up at the same time, sitting in traffic, and cramming into "open plan" work spaces has to go.

Sorry it won't happen. An office packed with humans is all about stroking the CEOs ego. Its just not the same seeing your servants on a screen vs packed together doing the boss's bidding.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#43

Post by abyssin »

eweise wrote: post #42
aphextron wrote: post #2

We just need to make the office an optional place that people can gather when they feel the need to. I have no problem at all working a 5 day 40 hours work week from home. But this nonsense of everyone waking up at the same time, sitting in traffic, and cramming into "open plan" work spaces has to go.

Sorry it won't happen. An office packed with humans is all about stroking the CEOs ego. Its just not the same seeing your servants on a screen vs packed together doing the boss's bidding.

I disagree. Although offices can have their downsides, I personally can't work remotely because I find it so cold and boring.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#44

Post by asdhaslkskdh »

daxfohl wrote: post #14

Anybody else feeling like if we're young and healthy we should actively try to contract this thing, self-isolate for a few weeks, and be done with it? It feels almost like this would be the most socially responsible thing to do: reduce the effective R0 and allow things to start getting back to normality. I'm the farthest thing from a "reopen" protester. But I can't help thinking that as a young and healthy individual…

What if this is the new HIV/AIDS?

(I'm no fan of oversimplification, but this is what's at stake.)

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#45

Post by JSavageOne »

eweise wrote: post #42
aphextron wrote: post #2

We just need to make the office an optional place that people can gather when they feel the need to. I have no problem at all working a 5 day 40 hours work week from home. But this nonsense of everyone waking up at the same time, sitting in traffic, and cramming into "open plan" work spaces has to go.

Sorry it won't happen. An office packed with humans is all about stroking the CEOs ego. Its just not the same seeing your servants on a screen vs packed together doing the boss's bidding.

Yes this is true. Employers have so much leverage in this labor market, and nobody ever got promoted in a large corporation for promoting workers' rights.

The only solution seems to be:

1. Universal Basic Income - ie. giving people the freedom to say no to sh*tty jobs rather than being forced to take the least bad offer

2. Make a law that gives employees the right to work remotely if their job can reasonably be done remotely

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#46

Post by JSavageOne »

fiblye wrote: post #6
tehjoker wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm concerned that if we go this route on a permanent basis without a more powerful labor movement, it'll mean that work and home will seamlessly merge. Employer surveillance will enter the home and corporate domination will seep into every pore of our existence... and that's for white collar workers.

If work from home ends up really sticking around, I'm sure plenty of cost-cutting employers will expect everyone to buy their own computers, but expect employees to all install keyloggers and monitoring software in order to work. And people will accept it, because they'll be fired if they refuse and someone more desperate will deal with it so long as they get paid at some point.

> And people will accept it

I definitely never think about working at any company that wanted employees installing keyloggers. As software engineers thankfully we're in enough demand to where I don't see it getting that extreme, but I could see that scenario for more oversupplied industries. In any case, the requirement of that kind of surveillance software to do one's job should be made illegal.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#47

Post by JSavageOne »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #28

For those living (and planning to stay) in areas with high wage standards (like most of the Western world!), keep in mind that remote work also opens your job to competition from much cheaper places. Great for the people in those places, but your happiness to be able to skip the commute may quickly turn into a lot of unhappiness because you can't make a living wage anymore.

That's why we need something like a universal basic income to alleviate peoples' dependence on a job or wage. Outsourcing has already eliminated many peoples' jobs, that's a big reason why Trump and his anti-immigrant rhetoric got elected.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#49

Post by JSavageOne »

forgot_my_pwd wrote: post #19

How many of us don't want to commute to the office 5 days a week, but also don't necessarily like the idea of working from home when not at the office? My personal ideal is a dedicated office space in a location very close to my home, like in the nearest downtown, where I would pay a certain amount per month in return for a set of days on which I could reserve personal office space. The issue with working from home f…

Definitely, I love to work out of coffee shops. Co-working spaces are another option (as a stingy person, I wish they were cheaper though).

It's great to change one's work environment every now and then. When I used to work in offices, many days I'd be sick of my office and want to work somewhere else, if only to change things up.

Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely

#50

Post by acd »

Social distancing to stop the spread binary version:

Loop: 1) Work monday-friday 6 hours practise strict social distancing. Work remote if you can. 2) Weekend rest from social distancing see friends.

Its like a binary four square wave with on / off.

Reason: If we practice good social distancing the spread time of the Covid is five days.

Post reply on HN