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Are 4-Day work weeks a generally good idea?
- Thread starter West Texas CEO
- Start date
nush
Gold Member
Read my post, it's a false productivity economy. More worked hours leads to slack deadlines and people looking busy "Working late". All the Chinese companies I've worked for I could see the staff gaming the system.
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
Wait....you CRUNCH? Why haven't you taken to twitter and consulted Schrier???
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
I also wonder if people would be happier if there was more flexibility outside of the normal 8-5 and staggered start/leave times?
It is so stupid for most of the corporate world to start at the same time, that means we are all on the road at the same time and nothing stressed me out more than my commute. I sometimes go into my old office for meetings and leaving an hour later than I used to means my commute time is cut in half (and I couldn't leave early enough to make a difference due to my banks' closing hours).
It is so stupid for most of the corporate world to start at the same time, that means we are all on the road at the same time and nothing stressed me out more than my commute. I sometimes go into my old office for meetings and leaving an hour later than I used to means my commute time is cut in half (and I couldn't leave early enough to make a difference due to my banks' closing hours).
nush
Gold Member
And hour flexibilty outside of the normal working hours could help peoples lives a lot, just avoiding and reducing rush hour traffic and the commute would help a lot of people.
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
I've done 4x10 before and it was pretty great. What I'd really like is 8 on 6 off that some of my former coworkers were on. They would work Wed to Wed and on those Wednesdays they would do a handoff with their doppleganger who worked the other week. The great part was they would then be able to take 8 days of pto and it would be 20 days off right there. The more senior guys who'd been there a long time had built up their vacation alottment to be able to do that 2 times a year.
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sol_bad
Member
This is definitely true for my job. If I get everything up to date, I'm helping other staff members get their stuff up to date. I don't hate having to do this because I'm paid for 8 hours of work so I don't expect to be sitting there doing nothing.
Cyberpunkd
has a good idea if you have a good boss that allows it. I think majority of bosses in charge are old school though and expect that 8 hours of work. Hopefully things change as we move forward.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Pretty much, we spend most of our lives giving our life to unscrupulous companies only to wake up one day at 60+, your bodies knackered, you cant do most things anymore, more than likely you'll be broke with money tied up in other ventures, then your dead..
So yes, four day weeks are a must!
INC
Member
I reckon about 5% of people actually enjoy thir job fully.
The rest its just a means to an end
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Most working peoples 'ambition' is outside of 'work'. They're only working to fulfil those ambitions..
Unless your true ambition is just to work :/
Soodanim
Gold Member
I've said for years that I'd much rather fit my day into 4 days rather than 5. When I worked retail, the shifts were somewhere between 8-5 and 12-9. You can never do anything of much substance before 12, so all you're doing is sitting around waiting for your shift to start. Sometimes the middle shifts are even worse, because what can you do working round a 10-7 shift? Bugger all, that's what.
Working out the logistics of adapting difference business types to 4 day weeks would be so minor compared to the advantages it would bring to society and business.
Work from home is already helping in its own way, as you don't need to commute. That alone can save people hours each day, and it definitely adds up.
Working out the logistics of adapting difference business types to 4 day weeks would be so minor compared to the advantages it would bring to society and business.
Work from home is already helping in its own way, as you don't need to commute. That alone can save people hours each day, and it definitely adds up.
highrider
Banned
I’ve been there. It took years to construct a life where I get paid to do work I enjoy and am enthusiastic to do every day. When I worked jobs to make ends meet I didn’t want to work less. I wanted to work more to get out of that situation.
lol, if your ambitions are strictly tied to work your life probably sucks.
Davey Cakes
Member
4 days is absolutely the way to go, and we should keep it to 8 hours per day.
The whole idea that we have to be productive at our jobs for 40 hours a week is silly. In many situations with the 5-day work week people can finish a day's worth of work in 5-6 hours. When overtime is needed, let there be overtime.
When you take preparation and commute into consideration, people are putting well above 40 hours per week into just sustaining a position at a company. We dedicate a lot of time to jobs outside of actually doing the work, and it's negatively impacting physical and mental health as well as the family at home.
The whole idea that we have to be productive at our jobs for 40 hours a week is silly. In many situations with the 5-day work week people can finish a day's worth of work in 5-6 hours. When overtime is needed, let there be overtime.
When you take preparation and commute into consideration, people are putting well above 40 hours per week into just sustaining a position at a company. We dedicate a lot of time to jobs outside of actually doing the work, and it's negatively impacting physical and mental health as well as the family at home.
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Eh, not really sure on that use case. It's not my responsibility to deal with my companies staffing issues. If someone quits suddenly, that's not my problem. They should have better retention/transition strategies. You should never be doing a "favour" for your company, which is what I'd view that as.
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Missingnomer
Member
I can only speak for the engineering sector and the 40 hour work week is a joke. No one actually works 40 hours. It is just a game we have to play because the companies we work for are being run by old guys who think hours = productivity. The age of the internet has changed EVERYTHING. My co-workers and I can easily manage our projects within 30 hours, no problem. Work at home or office does not matter to us. But management still wants 40 hours IN OFFICE, so we just jerk off at our desks for hours and hours. Wasted time for everyone involved. When the internet generation starts to take control of upper management decisions like work weeks, I can easily see most engineering firms downsize to purely deadline-based work schedules. Screw the hours.
Covid showed a lot of companies that hours don't mean anything. Just meeting deadlines.
Covid showed a lot of companies that hours don't mean anything. Just meeting deadlines.
Yeah. The only people at my work who actually put in 40 hours a week suck at their jobs. Or people who spend their days walking around socializing and considering that working.
We have people that claim to work 60 hour weeks. You wonder what they're doing. Then you have a meeting where they share their screen, watch them navigate their computer and understand why it takes them so long.
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Love the idea of a 4 day work week but the only way I see this being implemented by our corporate backed political class is if it leads to people working 2x 4 day work week jobs as the norm.
We as a nation have no institution where we can have an honest discussion about what we all agree on that can help american citizens. It's either corporate blue or corporate red, with signaling on either side and no actual policy getting done except corporate welfare.
So yea, if we do take a great idea it will only be to further enslave working class with 2 full time jobs at 4 days a week.
We as a nation have no institution where we can have an honest discussion about what we all agree on that can help american citizens. It's either corporate blue or corporate red, with signaling on either side and no actual policy getting done except corporate welfare.
So yea, if we do take a great idea it will only be to further enslave working class with 2 full time jobs at 4 days a week.
Why would you have a 25% cut when only working 20% less?
Aesius
Member
3 day weekends are massive, massive upgrades over 2 day weekends. They actually feel relaxing, whereas 2 day weekends are just long enough to catch your breath and prepare yourself for another 5 day grind while never really being able to put your feet up. Because, as others have said, Sundays are essentially half-days anyway, as the impending doom of the workweek starts to set in around 3 p.m.
Dural
Member
The day off was just a bonus for about a month and a half, the pay cut lasted 4 months. Because we're not hourly, the pay cut had nothing to do with how many hours we worked.
Aesius said:
Yeah, I never like to go far on a Sunday due to having to be at work the next day. If I'm doing anything it needs to be done on Saturday.
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Aesius
Member
It's sad that we live like this. Ultimately the 5 day workweek is more like a 5.5 day workweek because Sunday evening is consumed with thoughts of or preparation for work.
And the 8 hour workday is more like a 10-11 hour workday because of commuting and just getting ready in the morning. And then decompressing in the evening. I think that's why WFH is so much nicer for many people. It can give you back 2-3 hours of your day by cutting out commuting. And it even gives you back time on your weekends and evenings because you can get chores done throughout the day as time permits.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
Its good but corporations will find a way to ruin it by either just saying, u now work 4 days a week for the same salary why would you need a raise? or by lowering the salary by different amounts. Theres no way corporations are going to lose manpower and income just so they can give their workers and extraday. Cmon, it will never happen. Small businesses will adopt it in 10 years but biggers ones? Nah.
lachesis
Member
I wouldn't mind doing 4 day week - but if I could settle 3day week + 2 day remote, I'd be more that happy with that too. 2 day week + 3 day remote is even better.
Thing about commuting to NYC is that it costs so much money. Last year, I have been going into the city every 2 weeks or so.... but didn't do as much OT.
Still I ended up saving more money overall every month.
Thing about commuting to NYC is that it costs so much money. Last year, I have been going into the city every 2 weeks or so.... but didn't do as much OT.
Still I ended up saving more money overall every month.
Davey Cakes
Member
Absolutely. Anyone clamoring to return to the office is crazy. The time and money saved by not having to travel to work every day is significant. Never mind the fact that you don’t have to be professionally presentable 100% of the time. And even if you’re a workaholic, if there’s downtime on workdays you can always transfer that to household chores or other errands. WFH is a super win and people better be careful what they wish for when it comes to restoring pre-pandemic work culture.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Not all companies are the same of course. In that example I'm envisioning a small local office business, where someone suddenly quitting without warning would be a rare sight, maybe once every 5 years. A lost worker overnight could cause massive disruptions to workflow. If its a bigger corp or a high turnover workplace (restaurant/retail) then of course you as a worker shouldn't be automatically expected to pick up the slack, especially not without extra compensation.
Dural
Member
Tg89 said:
It's funny because I have been doing this almost exclusively, filling in for others roles, since I started this job 2 years ago. The job I was hired for I do, but there are so many other things that I do because they don't have anyone else that can do it. Just recently they fired a longtime employee that was the only one that knew how to do their job at the facility they were at, they are in Michigan and I'm in Illinois. I ended up having to do their job for about a month and have been checking the work of the person they put in his place daily because they aren't confident they did it correctly. I don't really mind, but it's a bit ridiculous that a company the size I work for wouldn't have been sure to get someone trained before they fired someone they don't have a succession plan for.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
You are the succession plan.
Irobot82
Member
It's funny/fucked up when you say 4 day work week, you can tell Americans are like yeah 4 10's would be dope. Everyone else, 36 hours would be dope.
That being said. I would 5 10's every week and would love reduced hours but that OT is sweet sweet cash and I WFH so no commute = more hours.
That being said. I would 5 10's every week and would love reduced hours but that OT is sweet sweet cash and I WFH so no commute = more hours.
Dural
Member
Haha, yep.
PleaseDontBanMe
Banned
less work is always a good idea
stupid question
life is too short to be miserable at work the majority of the time
give people some of their lives back
stupid question
life is too short to be miserable at work the majority of the time
give people some of their lives back
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michaelius
Banned
Hmm I think i'd rather have 5 days with shorter hours and less time wasted on meetings, inefficient IT systems and tons of other things that could be automated but were done manually in my previous company because the systems we used were downright bad.
Pagusas
Elden Member
as someone who loves his job, his career and is in a great career position, YES!!! I can do my job efficiently and amazingly, 40 hours a week is not needed to get things done. I dont make my employees work it, and I wish the rest of my company would get onboard with “work till the job is done, be on call from a set defined period, but otherwise enjoy your life!”
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Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Did you read your article from the website HuffingtonPost.com, OP?
"There are no solutions, only trade offs. - Thomas Sowell" - Men_in_Boxes
A shorter work week will certainly have some benefits, but it doesn't sound like the article explored what the drawbacks might be. Plus, I'm semi skeptical of the benefits that were listed.
"There are no solutions, only trade offs. - Thomas Sowell" - Men_in_Boxes
A shorter work week will certainly have some benefits, but it doesn't sound like the article explored what the drawbacks might be. Plus, I'm semi skeptical of the benefits that were listed.
nush
Gold Member
4 day week is not a universal solution for every business. But should be a benefit and motivation to work up to from a business that needs 40 hours like the service industry.