No one is saying lowering a surgeon's pay to a Starbuck's barista or equating the two skill set... other than yourself.

I won't begrudge a barista should they pull in the big bucks of a surgeon, as dubious the example is. All power to them should they negotiate such a pay packet.

 

I would begrudge the coffee hiking up to 10x the price or more to cover the pay.



But we're discussing 4 day work week here, so I'll switch to my experience with that.

I worked for Trinidad Logistics in Ft. Wayne and they adopted that model. Only a few people got the split they wanted, there were NO opportunities for overtime, and the shift overlaps left half the workforce idle, paid for waiting while forklifts and ridden pallet jacks were tied up. Ultimately the waste and lost revenue were unsustainable.

 

I don't have a lot to say on this since I don't know much of the data or details, but it sounds like the sort of thing that will happen inevitably. Anything that satisfies (or appeases) labor while still allowing for maximum capital gains for corporations and shareholders will almost certainly happen eventually, as it has countless times in the past. Anyone who believes that the meaning and structure of work in society will never change is incredibly naïve to history. Even capitalism, as incredibly successful and entrenched in our reality as it is, is only a few centuries old and has undergone radical changes within that timespan. It will continue to change and evolve in response to material conditions such as climate change, relative levels of wealth, shifting standards of living, and especially automation and other technological advances.

Is it good? Is it bad? There will be consequences both ways. I tend to believe that structural change is good and people should be more willing to accept and demand it, so even something relatively minor like a four day work week is probably a good thing to see change. I'm fortunate enough to have a very flexible job that would accommodate (and likely by largely unaffected by) a shorter work week, but for others it'll probably be a big shift in their life, both for better and worse. Regardless, we will all adapt - it's the one thing humans are consistently good at.

 

I work for the city of Buffalo. Here in city hall, we're allowed to work five normal 8-hour days, or 4 10-hour days.

 

"Work Smarter, Not Harder."

 

I'm curious as to why people are coming to the defense of these companies, some that are making record profits, executives raking in yearly bonuses and raises that far surpass what could be given to the ordinary people.

 

I've heard the idea of it floated here last year, I would LOVE it! I could see my family alot more due to commuting.

 

Which option did you take?

 

I think it'll work with some job types and not with others. Work places that provide Necessity, Health, and Emergency probably could not adopt such a policy. Other types of work might.

 

You're acting like all of these people went through hell to create these organizations like Wells Fargo or even Papa John's. Many of these people started miles ahead of everyone else. Even if they didn't they're currently making millions more than the average Joe.

You're ignoring the fact that wealth has gradually stayed with those who have wealth and done nothing for thr workers who are continually being asked to do more with less and for less. I'm sorry that I don't feel bad for the people with two or three homes while they're employees lack the funds to pay rent or buy food.

The company that I work for pays me well. But I'm not going to ignore the fact that I have coworkers who are paid the bare minimum to work long hours while the owners have multiple houses and planes.

 

I live in Europe and am one of those privileged guys who has a 4 day work week and is able to live from that quite well.

I guess I earn a little above average and I have a partner who also earns about the same as me and we have no kids so all of that helps.

But in the end it's all about priorities in life and what you're willing to spend on. Me and partner have a relative small house, no car, no unneeded luxury stuff in the house like 4k screens, expensive equipment or designer stuff or the need to buy a new flagship phone/laptop every year, etc etc. If you cut back on all that stuff; the things the brands make us think we need, but we actually don't. You can easily live quite nicely (at least in Europe) from a 4 day workweek salary.

That extra spare time you get I think is so worth it.In the end you don't need much stuff to be happy ( apart from a small well curated Transformers collection of course  ) To me life is more about shared experiences with the people I care about; building nice memories with them. And with that one day extra in the week I can actually make that happen. I can highly recommend it, if it's financially possible of course.

 

It's the corporations. They sit in their corporate offices in their corporate headquarters being all corporation-ey, you see?

Nothing better than listening to someone with zero drive or ambition whining about how other people need to subsidize their life and that successful people need to buoy them up instead of enjoying the rewards for their hard work.

 

I mean you could also try talking to non-Americans and see that's there are actually options between "record wealth disparity" and "kill all CEOs". I don't see how people can look at all these other first world countries with healthier, happier people and higher standards of living and not think maybe America could use even the tiniest bit of change

 

Everytime I hear about this 4-day work week I can’t help but feel like people are missing a key point, no change in income.

I work a warehouse job at 15.50 at 40-hours a week, I’m barely scraping by when it comes my bills & rent. I’m already bored on my days off and an extra day would drive me nuts. Plus they’d need to heavily increase my pay to compensate for that 8-hour decrease otherwise I might as well live on the streets… so yeah I’m heavily against 4-day work weeks, lets keep that 5-day work week thank you.

 

tldr...  
Now, 4 days, we skipped or glossed over hours in a day?
And to purposefully gloss, there are slugs in life that hide out and do as little as possible in every work facet.
I would welcome a 4/10 or even 4/16 ;D Yes, 16 hrs a day baby!
EDIT: so went back and read, obviously many of us are glossing over our own ideas and thought...sometimes this internet and forums is a bad delivery medium...but do continue  
(fyi I work 7 days on 7 days off 12hrs and a "short" day) This "short" week for some would be good, but there are a lot of coddled babies in the world. 4/10s would be a great idea for the average.

 

We kinda have this where I work. Except we work a five day workweek in 3-4 days. I’m a equipment engineering technician for a semiconductor fab and we do compressed work weeks of 12 hr days. Every two week pay period, the first week is three days of work and four days off. The next week is four days of work with three days off.

You get a lot of time off, but the days you’re working are brutal. Basically just working, sleeping, and having an hr or two to yourself.