A bill has just been introduced to reduce our work week from 40 hours to 32 hours. There would also be no loss in pay either according to the bill.
do you like the idea of only having to work just 4 days a week? More quality time to spend with your families and you come to work feeling more refreshed?
I have some big concerns about it.
At least in my field as a CG engineer, each one of us tends to be near-irreplaceable. For example, we have one guy on our team who has 2 PhDs in physics and one in CompSci on Fluid Dynamics and has devoted his entire life to studying how to simulate fluids accurately and efficiently. That's all he does; he's an extreme specialist. He's one of a kind in this way and if he left our team, it'd be a massive setback for our product and customers as there are very few people in the world who even understands what he does let alone understands all the code he wrote.
So when we have irreplaceable VIP workers like this, we often need them around even more than 5 days/week, not less. Take James Cameron as another example. He's a workaholic film director who works around the clock 7 days/week. If we reduced him to 4 days/week, who's going to do the work he normally does when he's not around? What film has ever benefitted from having 2 film directors? Chances are that the production is going to skyrocket in cost only to yield an inferior product.
I could see how, in some cases, worker productivity could rise by reducing them to 80% of their working hours, especially if they spend those 4 days more refreshed, focused, and working harder as a result. Yet it's often not even about such an isolated concept of productivity. Teams tend to be interdependent on each other so to have a worker missing for a day can negatively impact the entire team. It's often more important at least in our case that the team member is always available throughout the week to optimize the team's productivity than to optimize the individual's productivity to the maximum.
If it's a very trivial job that anyone can do with very replaceable workers, then this might be more beneficial to the company, as we can just replace one worker with another any time if the other is absent. Yet for a company like mine, it would be a massive setback that would likely result in far more management and collaboration problems and massive delays in shipping.
It sounds great until you think about it. Even a cursory analysis tells you that employers would be paying the same amount for 20% lower productivity. Who pays for that…the consumer, of course. So I don’t think it’s hard to see that this plan would almost immediately inject a 20% increase in the cost of goods. If we all could work fewer hours and have the same purchasing power we have now, that would be great, but that’s not how economics works. Additionally, we already have a skilled worker shortage in this country. If you cut the hours of the workers you have, that adds an additional 20% workload that isn’t getting done because the skilled people aren’t there to hire. This whole idea is a grasp for votes from people who’s depth of thought is VERY shallow.
Sure, sounds good. What's the point in having all this technology if it doesn't make life easier? Nobody has intelligent opinions anymore. They just react in anger out of reflex. We should just tell the blowards we are working 40 hours and secretly take Fridays off. They won't know. They will be too busy stroking themselves to pictures of the Rape Pumpkin.
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Yes, I agree with a 4 hour work week provided the work day is an hour longer to help offset people not working as many hours, and as a little compromise for people who are against it. In the future, the extra hour can be eliminated once everyonbe is use to the 4 day work week.
It's a crazy idea that will be devastating. But it's Bernie Sanders so what do you expect. He's one of the stupidest politicians out there. There are a few dumber than him, but not many.
What does he even expect it to do? He can claim the work week is 32 hours all he wants, but people won't work 32 hours. It will mainly affect government workers and only a portion of them. So who is going to pay for the increased cost of government? Tax payers of course.
And what does the same pay mean? How the hell is he going to pull that off? It's not going to happen. The government doesn't legislate how much people get paid. Again, that will mainly affect government workers, and not al of them.
The increased overtime pay will be one more reason for companies to outsource overseas. It WILL happen.
And what about all the small businesses that just plain can't afford a large increase in labor costs? They simply go out of business and all the employees get laid off.
But really, most people will work the same hours they did before. This doesn't affect exempt employees for one thing. But even non-exempt employees will keep working the same hours as before.
As for me I’m all for a four day work week just as long as you get 40 hours & nothing less. I’ll work four ten hour days & have three off, sign me up tomorrow.
If you go from 40 hours to 32 hours you still get paid by the hour & although your hourly rate wouldn’t change your paycheck will & you will be short 8 hours.
I love contracts & my contract states if I work over eight hours the second I go over eight hours I automatically get time & half for anything over. So if I work ten hour days that is two hours at time & half & I guarantee I will be working on the fifth day as well.
That is scary how stupid people are. Anyone really think that is a good idea? How does that effect an economy. Factories can't product enough products since there are shorter work days, which causes deficit. When there is deficit what happens to the prices? - They go up. If you dont wanna work, then dont.
in Germany, work week is 40 hrs. You can choose 4 x 10hrs or 5 x 8hrs... no one sane would pay you a full salary for working 32 hrs/week...
Nope, I do 7 days and take off one day a year (technically it's 2 halves but back to back)
I work for myself in the service industry so it wouldn't work for me. If I don't work, I don't get paid.
How does the store make money when it's closed? How do they pay an employee with money they don't have? Perhaps like a restraint setting. Your til is a chunk of the pay, give or take.
I definitely approve of the 4 day work week. It would take away a lot of stress to people. Hell if we could work 3 days a week and do 10 hours instead with no loss of pay, I would opt for that.
How’s that work for people paid hourly?
I used to do 4x10s, no idea why it isn’t more common
Discussing economy with a socialist is like discussing ethics with Jeffrey Dahmer.
It’s great in theory but not realistic because where is the money coming from to cover the extra day off?
If it's voluntarily agreed upon between employer and employee.
Absolutely. Who wouldn’t?
Yes, been dreaming of this to happen lol
Sounds great!
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