Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
theatlantic.com
Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
1–10 of 78 posts
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#2We 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.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#3We 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.
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.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#4The article has no research or statistics that try to prove why or how this would work and what the marginal difference is over a full workweek.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#5The article has no research or statistics that try to prove why or how this would work and what the marginal difference is over a full workweek.
True. Apparently the author wrote a book about the topic, presumably that has some good citations, but one can only guess.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#6We 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.
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.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#7We 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.
Many workplaces have been moving in this direction over the past decade. Not only do employees love it; there are also serious cost savings for employers.
Pretty much everyone wants to go this direction. The problem is that there are still serious hurdles in place -- mainly due to the nature of the work, or cultural/interpersonal challenges.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#8Ok, good point, there is just one small detail: the "without cutting salaries" part.
Employees will love it, that's for sure, but I don't think employers will get even. You are basically giving your employees a 25% raise on their hourly wage.
There are success stories of companies that pay their employees above market value, either by paying them the same amount for less work, paying them more, or giving them particularly good perks. It is the idea of quality over quantity: by giving out preferential treatment, you get the best employees, and keep them motivated, and their increased productivity will make up for the higher cost. But there are success stories going the other way too: cheap, borderline slave labor and a high turnover. Sometime a high volume of low quality work is effective.
But in most cases, the usual market value is what works best, that's why it is the market value.
I am not saying that working less is bad, but it is a bit unfair to have the employer shoulder all the costs. Maybe make it half/half: 10% less pay for 20% less work.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#9Offices are hardly the problem areas to reopen - most of them can go remote.
It's the places that can't go remote that is the problem, and those are exactly the places where they need to be open many hours, in order for customers to be able to come.
Re: Shorten the Workweek to Reopen Safely
#10Ok, good point, there is just one small detail: the "without cutting salaries" part. Employees will love it, that's for sure, but I don't think employers will get even. You are basically giving your employees a 25% raise on their hourly wage. There are success stories of companies that pay their employees above market value, either by paying them the same amount for less work, paying them more, or giving them particu…
Measures like this could be packaged into preventative medical care, keeping employees healthy at the office keeps them out of the hospital.