Soā¦ā¦. A right the only applies to people that have jobs that can be done remotely?
This seems like almost as bad of an idea as the federal government using taxes to retire college debt.
When I get asked why I only work 3 days a week, I say I just cannot afford to only work 2
https://www.amazon.com/Bullshit-Jobs-Theory-David-Graeber/dp/0141983477
I have not got around to reading this book yet but Iāve heard a summary and agree with the premise. If there are a number of pointless office jobs out there then I could see how they could be done within fewer hours.
Massive gains in productivity and GDP were supposed to have freed us from the need to work so many hours, starting back in the 70s if not before.
Those gains have happened, but somehow the masses have not received any benefit from them. We still toil away in office cubes, oftentimes doing pointless administrative tasks and / or filling the time on the internet just waiting for the 5pm whistle.
There is also a strong case for having better work / life balance equate to better mental and physical health including stronger family connections, etc. All of which will benefit society and reduce the cost of healthcare across the board. A 7% reduction in stress on an individual level is a nice but perhaps not quite life changing event, but across a healthcare system can be quite massive in terms of positive impact.
As much as Iād love the 4 day work week, Iād also like to see work become much more flexible in terms of location and schedule. Make work more task oriented and let people decide where and when they do it.
This isnāt even a new concept. My dad was a salesman for much of his career, and as long as he made his numbers, for decades, his boss didnāt give a crap what he did day in and day out (he played a lot of golf and took me to soccer practice, etc. He used to go to baseball games sometimes too). He had a couple of meetings a week he had to attend and the rest of his time management was on him. He was extremely successful in that environment, and Iāve demonstrated the same in my career as well.
We have got to stop treating work as little jail cells. There are certain careers where you have to be physically present, but most arenāt like that all the time, and some can be done almost entirely without it.
The people who are afraid of these concepts tend to fall into 3 categories:
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commercial real estate investors (ironic since many of them do fuck all on a day to day basis - itās one of the easiest ācareersā you can have - owning a building - tons of free time - extremely flexible schedule)
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middle managers - looking to justify their jobs / salaries.
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micro managers - people at all levels who obsess about keeping people under their thumbs and telling them what to do. Itās their raison dāĆŖtre.
2 & 3 have some overlap, but not entirely.
Actually I will go the other way with this with #2. Moving to a more free environment puts more pressure on middle managers and actually justifies their position and creates the need for smaller team that are easier to manage. Not from a mico point of view as much as just making sure your people away from the office have the support and leadership needed to excel. Being remote means you canāt just get up and find someone, you need a tighter manager relationship - in terms of knowing you are supported.
But a new survey shows a disconnect lingers between many top executives and front-line workers about the future of remote work ā even after many businesses have embraced a hybrid setup.
The survey by job site Monster found most workers would quit their job if they were forced to return to the office full time ā and 40% would quit their jobs if they were mandated to come in just one day a week.
Many top executives like the offices full of people to kiss their butts like they are royalty. Also more difficult to find someone to have an affair with less people around.
A 4 day work week? Screw that. I am not working an extra day a week for anyone
Biggest challenge of the 4 day work week is how people adjust their lives to āworkingā 11 hours. Daycare, body clocks, time with daylight, impact to family - all of that makes it a challenge. I worked 4 10s for years and loved it, I was also single with no kids.
Thatās what the typical 4 day work week looks like, 4 10s. But what the UK is experimenting with is literally just dropping one day. 100% pay for 80% hours.
Yep, itās cutting the hours back to afford a better quality of life to the majority of workers, who have not otherwise participated in the GDP gains of the last 5 decades.
This reduction in work was projected to happen in the next decade, some 70 years ago. It is way, way, overdue.
As stated previously, the upside of this from an economic standpoint includes (at macro / aggregate level): better health (more time to exercise), and less stress, combining to reduce healthcare costs, as well as a slight bump to leisure spending, including travel.
Maybe 2 20ās?
How does that work when so many companies are understaffed as is?