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Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Calls for Three-Day Workweek to Improve Quality of Life
Mexican billionaire tycoon, Carlos Slim, has called for the introduction of a three-day working week, offset by longer hours and a later retirement, as a way to improve people's quality of life and create a more productive labour force.
Slim made the comments when speaking to a business conference in Paraguay, suggesting that the workforce could be spread over a full week, with employees working up to 10 or 11 hours a day.
"With three work days a week, we would have more time to relax; for quality of life," the Financial Times reports Slim saying. (paywalled)
The business conference, Growing Together - States and Enterprises, was held in Asuncion and was attended by business and political leaders from across Latin America.
"Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied," Slim said. He said current retirement ages come from a time of lower life expectancies, and should rise to 70 or 75.
Anybody want a 75 year old hauling away his trash?
(Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday July 23 2014, @08:47PM
The effect is about the same. Those employees who are worth the money will be poached by another company who is willing to pay the fair price. I would agree with your solution in a world of no competition though. In your case it is an entire industry that is down, where would employees go? In mine it is very localized to just my company. We burned through a few mil of the VC money and now they want to stabilize and actually balance the budget. We technically could have been "in the black" the whole time. Then nobody would have to be fired. If i lost 20% of my pay here then i would just get a different job. Plenty of jobs where i live but it is chaotic.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 24 2014, @01:15AM
employees who are worth the money will be poached by another company
First, you need to switch off any lamestream media you are consuming.
Any time you spend paying attention to what is on TeeVee or AM radio or is in ad-driven corporate print media is wasted time: All you will get there is propaganda that has been filtered to contain only pro-corporate, pro-regime viewpoints.
Next, it appears you need to have your eyes and ears checked.
In their current state, they don't appear to be perceiving the world as it actually is for the 99 Percent.
Finally, you need to get out among the 99 Percent.
It appears you are noshing at places that cater to people who still have decent jobs and decent paychecks.
Try a down-scale diner for a change and experience a little reality.
Companies aren't hiring because PEOPLE AREN'T BUYING; it's a vicious circle.
When we had a president who had economic advisors who *weren't* from the (Neoliberal) Chicago School of Economics, the gov't actually helped *solve* the unemployment problem:
FDR put 15 million Americans on the public payroll when the Capitalists weren't hiring and he got the country back on its feet because people had money in their pockets to go out and BUY stuff.
Obama (like Bush before him) is a Crony Capitalist cheerleader (a whore for the corporations), so he will never do anything that will actually get the country back up off the canvas.
Now, in the 2012 election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein ran on a New Green Deal platform.
Lamestream media ignored her and the USA lost its only real chance for a recovery for the working class.
The misery index in the USA is very high.
It's rare when there is an opening that is not the result of someone dying or getting fired.
Job creation isn't even keeping up with population growth.
23 percent of people can't get a fulltime job and the number is growing.
The govt's unemployment numbers are a complete sham:
Since Clinton, people who are so discouraged that they have just given up looking for jobs (that they have discovered are non-existent) AREN'T COUNTED as unemployed.
As such, not only does the gov't give an unemployment number that is incorrect, they don't even get the trend right.
There is a glut of labor and a dearth of openings; it's a 1 Percenter's dream.
To get work, people are having to bid down their wages and benefits.
Those who are the most desperate are the ones who are getting hired.
THAT is what most people are experiencing in the job market.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday July 24 2014, @03:02AM
Wasn't expecting all that. To each their own : ) I'm actually okay with organized social structure. But not as the core of society. For the record though, i don't have tv (though i do have A tv) and radio blows compared to pandora. I don't have facebook. I have zero formal education and am entirely self taught. Mom signed a waiver allowing me to join the US Army at 17. I served 5.5 years as a Scout (stop loss). Easily the best and worst times of my life. So please don't rub my face in my happiness like i'm a 1% snob. I am very passionate about programming. It's not only my job but my hobby (though in different languages).
My area does have jobs though. I think it's mostly because outsiders dismiss it out of hand as they fly over : ) I have no doubt that people from all over the nation see job openings here. But the salary is 20-50k less than they are use to making. Doesn't matter. You can rent a three bedroom house for 800-1000$ depending on neighborhood and the trimmings. That would only get you a shoebox with a toilet in some places : /
I think there is a lot of lying about unemployment on all sides. The biggest problem, imo, is that companies do not like green people. They do not want to train new people or retrain old people on new systems. They'd rather throw up their hands and say nobody is qualified and outsource the whole project (which robs the local area of money).
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