Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
A four-day working week pilot programme is being squarely aimed at the UK tech sector with the final results to be assessed by academics.
The post-pandemic world of work has changed, with many employees demanding more flexibility in their labor location and the hours they put in, amid a tension that many corporations would prefer to revert back to more traditional styles.
With this in mind, consultancy 4 Day Week Foundation is urging tech businesses of all shapes and sizes to sign up to a six-month trial from June 30, starting with a six-week workshop and training that begins May 22.
"Nothing better represents the future of work than the tech sector which we know is an agile industry ripe for embracing new ways of working such as a four-day week," said Sam Hunt, business network coordinator at the consultant.
"As hundreds of British companies have already shown, a four-day, 32 hour working week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for workers and employers," he added. "The 9-5, 5 day working week was invented 100 years ago and no longer suits the realities of modern life."
The idea is simple, cram the normal working week into four days instead of five, with no loss of pay for the employee.
[...] Prior to the pandemic, Microsoft tested out the four-day-week at its offices in Japan, giving its entire local workforce Fridays off without impact to pay. This initiative, Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019, led to more efficient meetings, a happier workers and a reported 40 percent hike in productivity, according to Microsoft.
"Work a short time, rest well and learn a lot," Microsoft Japan president and CEO Takuya Hirano said at the time. "I want employees to think about and experience how they can achieve the same results with 20 percent less working time."
Overheads plunged too: electricity use in the office was down - disproportionately - by 23 percent – and 59 percent fewer pages were printed. This was in addition to 92 percent of staff saying they enjoyed a shorter working week.
However, tycoons at the Redmond-based cloud and software biz have so far not replicated the initiative elsewhere. Microsoft does run a hybrid work policy, however, allowing staff to work remotely and from the office for a number of days a week.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Tork on Wednesday March 26, @03:37PM (15 children)
From an economics point of view- I like to play video games but have too little free-time. So... I don't spend money on video games. Gimme time to enjoy it and I'll happily buy a bunch of shit I don't need.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Touché) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @04:12PM (14 children)
The way my health's going, working the standard five day week (plus all the unpaid overtime that goes with it) is becoming increasingly difficult. Much of that time is wasted dealing with stupidity, either from stupid managers or stupid engineers who couldn't code their way out of a wet paper bag. That leads to a stress feedback loop including extra migraines. I've recently been diagnosed with woke snowflake disease too. I must remember to buy a lottery ticket.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Touché) by Username on Wednesday March 26, @04:42PM (13 children)
Just imagine trying to force that same amount of work in eight less hours. I guess productivity would have to go up.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday March 26, @05:42PM (9 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 5, Interesting) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @06:10PM (8 children)
Nearly 20 years ago I learned how to do things in a measured, methodical, productive way. Ever since then, every single employer I have ever worked for has undermined that system through short term thinking and corner cutting. It is my considered opinion that no one wants things done efficiently. They want a quick hack, get the customer to sign for it, and by the way do it even cheaper next time.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Insightful) by aafcac on Wednesday March 26, @07:27PM (5 children)
In my experience, there's this attitude that they've paid for a certain amount of work, and whether it can be done in the time allotted or not isn't really something they care about. I had an argument with one of the managers where I was working about how much of what I was being expected to do they were paying me to do. Because there was this constant increase in stuff to do that they refused to prioritize, refused to remove obsolete tasks from the docket and refused to bother to check to see if any of the projected increases in efficiency ever materialized.
It leads to a situation where there isn't really much of a point in terms of putting in your best effort or looking to find efficiencies because even if you do manage to find ones that don't screw you over, the reward for it is more busy work so that the executives feel like they're getting their money's worth out of the labor costs even if it winds up being more expensive in the long run.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @07:54PM
This is where they're not thinking it through. If they've paid for a certain amount of work and then they keep piling more work on top, and if they were economical with the truth about the requirements at the start, then surely they can't expect any more? Ideally you'd just do what they had originally specified minus all the emergent stuff.
I've worked for a few managers who manage by surprise and by could-you-just. The could-you-just is when they've buttered you up with praise before and they emerge from their office at an odd time unexpectedly to ask if you "could just do this one important small fix for an important customer that has to be with them by tomorrow afternoon?" One guy tried that the day before my leaving day. I was so busy trying to keep everything else going and do my handover I couldn't do it. Then he had the temerity to have a go at me for not doing it. On my way out the building. The last I'd heard he had given up being a PHB and was teaching Maths at a secondary school. Poor kids.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday March 26, @07:55PM (1 child)
From my experience it was always two different things -- the work to do and the hours to do it in. They want both. They want maximum work for 8 hours and they want all the tasks done, the tasks either take more time to do then the allotted time so you either fall behind or have to work overtime (hopefully paid). Or the tasks take less time then allotted and then they want you to do other more things things to fill out the day.
They want both. I understand them from some idea. But then it gives me very little incentive in most situations to do it faster. After all why would I want more tasks to complete? If I can drag out one task for the maximum amount of time. If I do more and they paid me to complete something then if I'm done faster what I do with the spare time, or time difference should be up to me. Somehow there is never enough allotted time for learning new things or doing other things.
I guess it's one of the things you get from having your own company. You bill by the hour. They want a task completed. So you add some extra hours. Hopefully you'll be finished in that time. In which case it's great. If not then not so great.
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Thursday March 27, @02:16AM
That's more or less what was happening, except there was a bunch of busywork that was continually being added because they went into one store on one day and saw a couple people not busy. The thing that always got me was that I could personally do just about all the actual essential work for the entire department myself, but there was a bunch of busywork and the primary driver of sales wasn't even on the list of things to do.
I learned a ton about how to manage inventory and a department and a ton about how to organize things, which made up for most of it, but I don't understand how companies can expect to continually replace experience employees with new hires without paying the price for doing so. Sure, it's cheaper to hire people with little or no experience, but they also make a ton of mistakes and get far less done for the effort too. Several times I had everybody else in my department quit over the course of a week or two and it cost a ton in sales as a result of the mismanagement.
(Score: 2) by Deep Blue on Wednesday March 26, @09:45PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @10:01PM
And if those extra units don't ship, you'll be looking for opportunities outside the company. And if they do ship, you'll be looking for those opportunities too, only not so soon. Your call.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by corey on Wednesday March 26, @09:44PM (1 child)
> Nearly 20 years ago I learned how to do things in a measured, methodical, productive way.
Curious about this, is it something you figured out yourself or learned somewhere? Something you could share?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @09:59PM
I was taught. I was very fortunate to find myself working in a very good team who knew how to do things. I was also trained. The problem is like all these things, good ideas go out of fashion. Not only that, the buzzword people and cargo cult types come in and before you know it, you're sinking in a sea of PHB mush and the ensuing cynicism. There's absolutely no point in my trying to explain it all over again. I'll be shot down by the cynics and everyone who thinks they know better.
I'll leave you with one piece of wisdom from that team lead: "What works never changes. What it's called does."
What I call it will get me shot down. I'll keep my mouth shut.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stormreaver on Wednesday March 26, @08:11PM (2 children)
Work drive decreases as the working week progresses, and the converse seems to also be true: work drive increases as the working week decreases. Where I work, the weeks with holidays see an increase in output. Two holidays in the same week regularly trigger a stronger drive to get things done. A well-rested person will naturally be stronger than a tired person. Diminishing returns come rather quickly.
(Score: 3, Touché) by turgid on Wednesday March 26, @08:17PM (1 child)
A well-rested person will naturally be stronger than a tired person. Diminishing returns come rather quickly.
The law of Supply and Demand comes into it. They have an infinite supply of labour, which is therefore cheap and effectively disposable. They don't care and they don't need to.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Touché) by stormreaver on Thursday March 27, @01:15PM
I can hardly argue with that. We are vastly overpopulated, which enforces the golden rule.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Wednesday March 26, @05:18PM
This then in contrast to certain other tech-giants that claim it's 40-60-80h per week in the office or you are slacking off and not doing what it takes or your best. I guess both options can be true. I just don't think I would chose the other option.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Thexalon on Wednesday March 26, @08:04PM (4 children)
MegaCorp CEO Hugh Jass has decided to mandate a new 8-day working week, he announced to Forbes. He believes it will increase productivity over the previous 6-day mandate.
He is also instituting a new policy that requires all employees to spend at least 150 hours per week in their workplace, and a new payroll policy that eschews direct deposit in favor of paper checks delivered to the employee's home. "We find that this enables US to employ personnel at more competitive pay rates, because the employees are unable to take the time to collect and deposit their pay and instead rely solely on office coffee and pizza for their sustenance along with sleeping on company-provided cots." Jass noted that while many US citizen employees have quit since this policy was announced, he was confident that immigrant employees and offshore companies could make up the difference, and hopes that other firms will see the success he has had over the last quarter with these methods.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 4, Funny) by looorg on Wednesday March 26, @09:12PM (3 children)
Provided cots? CEO Jass appears to soft and sounds like a commie. The peons have to pay rent, or have a salary deduction, for said cot. Otherwise this would be like communism. Also the shelter beneath their desks is basically lodging (it has walls and a ceiling, of sorts!) and they should charge rent for that to for when they sleep there during the mandated crunch periods.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday March 27, @10:39AM (2 children)
You're missing an important point here: If you charge them rent, then they might be able to use the office as their residential address, which screws up the whole "paper check they can't take the time to collect" policy.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday March 27, @04:29PM (1 child)
When will they have time to leave the office to cash the check. 25h work per day, just like the four Yorkshiremen intended.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday March 27, @05:39PM
Exactly my point. It cuts down on payroll costs quite a bit.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2, Interesting) by oldeschool on Thursday March 27, @02:37AM
We switched to a 4 day work weeks several years ago, but 4 10 hour shifts -- biggest thing I noticed, nobody does overtime, after a 10 hour shift it can wait until tomorrow.