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It's time to implement a 4-day workweek
In May, Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate, floated the idea of implementing a four-day workweek to better accommodate working Americans in a time of uncertainty, saying a shorter workweek could have mental-health benefits for employees.
There's not one overarching definition of a four-day workweek. "There are different models for the shortened week, some of which envision the same output condensed into fewer hours while others simply imagine longer hours spread over fewer days," a Washington Post report said.
Some involve a three-day weekend, while others mean a day off midweek.
[...] "It would help get us off of this hamster wheel that we're on right now, where we're all sort of racing against the clock in service of this giant capital-efficiency machine," Yang said. "And the race is driving us all crazy."
In a Harris poll conducted in late May, 82% of employed US respondents said they would prefer to have a shorter workweek, even if it meant longer workdays.
The idea of a shorter workweek has become so popular in Finland that Prime Minister Sanna Marin has called for employers to allow employees to work only six hours a day, four days a week. In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern proposed the policy as part of a coronavirus economic recovery effort.
Andrew Barnes, the CEO of Perpetual Guardian, introduced a four-day workweek at his company in New Zealand in 2018.
Barnes, a cofounder of the nonprofit platform 4 Day Week Global and the author of "The 4 Day Week," said he found that "stress levels drop, creativity goes up, team cohesion goes up" under such a policy.[...] Microsoft experimented with a four-day workweek last year at a subsidiary in Japan as part of its "Work-Life Choice Challenge." The subsidiary closed every Friday in August and said it saw productivity jump by 40% compared with the previous year.
I'm somehow attracted to the idea, be it only for the reason the weekends are the most productive time for me, with no meeting interruptions (large grin)
(Score: 4, Funny) by ChrisMaple on Wednesday August 12 2020, @10:16PM (3 children)
If you feel imposed upon by working 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, the problem is with you, not your employer.
If you want to get ahead in life, do more than the job demands. Eventually your increased value to the company should result in increased pay and improved position. Those who don't provide extra achievement are not the people that management thinks of when looking for people to promote.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday August 12 2020, @10:34PM
Heh, why should everyone's goal be a promotion and nothing else?
What's the mean and what's the end?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 12 2020, @10:36PM
You can also solve this by finding an employer that is willing to employ you for the time you want to be employed. I don't have a problem with people working 30, 20, or even 0 hours a week - as long as they don't try to force the rest of us into their lifestyle in order to protect it.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @03:23AM
Ha Ha. Typical management propaganda, work harder and longer and the company will value and reward you. It's bullshit.
Management has their own agenda and they don't promote competence and achievement - they keep it right where it is most productive. The ones who get promoted are the butt-kissing political players who are useful in their little turf wars and who improve productivity by being taken out of the workflow.