We’re long past the point of companies doing what’s actually best. Consider how many are returning to offices despite all the evidence that wfh is better for all involved.
As with most things I think a big part of the problem is executives. They live for work. They love coming in and lording over their little fiefdoms and holding pointless meetings where everyone has to listen to them talk. Why would they give up a day of that every week? Why would they let people wfh where they aren’t forced to be in the room making them feel important?
Yeah I’m firmly convinced of that. It’s similar to things like dressing professionally. I’m concerned with a combination of effectiveness and the welfare of all stakeholders (though I do believe the workers ought to own the place, but that’s separate). Companies do better when workers rest.
And it’s important to remember that the 40 hour work week was negotiated with the assumption the worker does no domestic labor. Due to women entering the workplace that’s no longer the reality, and while yes in heterosexual marriages the woman is more likely to be expected to take on a disproportionate amount of the domestic labor, in the ideal scenario of 50/50 with equal domestic and professional labor, we’d be working a 20 hour week. That’s a lot of assumptions but the reality is a lot of folks are burnt the fuck out. It’s exhausting to cook a healthy meal every day or two on top of an 8 hour day 5 days a week. Add in commutes, and cleaning and other chores. What happened to your 8 hours to do what you will.
And that’s not disparaging women in the workforce. I’m a professional woman as is my wife. It’s that bosses used women’s liberation as an excuse to not raise wages but didn’t cut the time they expected folks to work. So now middle class means two people work full time in middle class jobs
Ive been saying this for a long time. Families were being raised on 40 hour a week income and then one day it was like over 100 since so many folks were easily averaging 50 hour weeks.
There isn’t evidence that WFH is better for all involved. Many benefit from it but some people suffer. Especially juniors and new joiners have been shown to have a harder time ramping up and integrating.
Doesn’t help that middle management feels threatened since it is becoming obvious that nobody needs them. You can pretend like you’re working when people are in the office, but suddenly when noone needs you?
This is not going to happen. My theory about work is that it serves to keep people busy, preventing them from thinking about social inequities and injustices, and also to keep them from having time for personal growth, professional development, etc. This is why you got 60-80 work hours per week if we count the commute to work, lunch time, among other things.
So I run a small company that took part in a 4 day week trial in conjunction with a university. The goal was to set staff up with the tools necessary to achieve their full week of work in four days and measure whether it was being achieved while looking at other measurable metrics (e.g. absence through illness)
It was an unqualified success and we’ll never go back. The drive to keep a three day weekend coupled with the freshness of rolling into work after one meant everyone was absolutely hitting the same productivity levels.
Like there’s no need to fuck around on Reddit or Lemmy if you’re well rested and trying to make sure you keep that going.
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I replied to a comment that you replied to so you may have missed it…
We do a 4 day week and that’s definitely a thing but retaining staff is a huge benefit too. Who’s giving up a three day weekend every weekend? Absolutely nobody :)
I love to see this. One challenge that concerns me is that many people really need to be paid for all 5 days. The shorter week by itself isn’t enough.
Their weekly pay stays the same, just a 32 hour week instead of 40.
You’ll have a lot more happy and productive workers if they all were given a livable wage and healthy work/life balance.
Scientific management and all the bullshit it has spawned needs to die.
