

Economic Theory and the Five Day Weekend (2007) - MortenK
http://money.howstuffworks.com/five-day-weekend.htm

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codyb
I feel as if even a three day weekend would make me feel so much less stifled
by work.

I love my job. I love what I do. And yet the grind of going day after day,
five days a week, every week except for maybe three or four times a year when
I take vacation (and I try to take more than I'm allotted believe me...). It's
just stifling. It's tiring. It makes me not want to get up for work in the
morning. But after a three day weekend and with only four days to work in the
week, I always feel better.

If it doesn't happen at my work here I'll figure a way to make it work
somewhere else I hope. But it's not an option for most people, and maybe it
should be.

~~~
bmj
I agree with you, but I think there is far too much cultural baggage (at least
here in the U.S.) for a less-than-five-day week to ever work. It strikes that
in white collar jobs, people feel the need to think that their work time and
presence is absolutely necessary for the well-being of their employers. Of
course, this attitude often comes from above, such as when you get an email
from an executive near the end of the year reminding you that you can carry-
over vacation days, and if you a job that directly affects revenue, maybe you
should consider carrying some days over.

The most interesting bit, for me, in the article was the observation that
culturally, we've often forgotten that work is only part of our lives. So many
of us base much of our identity on what we do for a living that we forget that
the concept of vocation encompasses more than just what we do for a paycheck.

~~~
mc32
An alternative could be to encourage four ten-hour workdays. People will
feel.like they're putting in their forty hours (perh fewer productive hours)
but that could acclimate people to four-day weekdays....

Then eventually transition to 4x8-hour days as people accept 4 days as
normal... Just a thought.

~~~
electromagnetic
I work construction and would love this, but our issue would be customers
thinking we're "slacking" because in a month long job we're taking three day
weekends every week.

Compound this with employers who don't value productivity over "time put in",
and I genuinely think this won't happen until it's either forced or the
current generation of senior management are ousted via retirement/death (as
most seem to work until very close to the latter).

I think the older generation is so stuck in its mindset that it's going to
take a cataclysmic shift for them to realise they've been stupid for decades,
and it's the younger generations that are dragged along with it because
they're yet to be the ones in control.

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adrianN
There is a similar article in the Orion Magazine:

[https://orionmagazine.org/article/the-gospel-of-
consumption/](https://orionmagazine.org/article/the-gospel-of-consumption/)

that goes a little more in depth into the history of the 40 hour work week.

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wtracy
If anyone is hiring for a position that requires <40 hours/week, this would
probably be a good place to advertise. :-)

~~~
bengali3
OR if anyone is OK with 50 hrs in 4 workdays (4 12.5hr days) post away :)

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stolio
There's also a system of 9 hour days Monday-Thursday and then every other
Friday off. It averages out to 40-hour weeks but you get two 3-day weekends a
month.

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michaelhoney
My company works a four-day week, and it's excellent. Note that the transition
from five to four days has the most pleasure impact (+50% weekend) for the
least work cost (-20% work). The next two transitions – 4->3 and 3->2 – would
be a lot harder. But I'd love to make it to three days a week, when you work
fewer days than you relax.

~~~
philbo
I'd really love to hear more details about what your company did and how they
did it:

* What size is the company?

* Who proposed the change?

* Were people resistant to the idea? Which people? How were they persuaded otherwise?

* What differences are noticeable about the company now? Productivity? General happiness in the office?

* Any advice for people wishing to follow in your footsteps?

