The 4-day work week is not a fantasy

By: Eli Amdur
Vantage Point
NorthJersey.com
10/08/2023

..... What do you think about working only 32 hours a week, instead of the 40 or more you're putting in right now? Pay rennins the same, you just work eight fewer hours.
..... And... you maintain the same or higher productivity (output) as you did in 40 hours.
..... I asked that question to 20 people who are in the civilian labor force and actively employed on September 28. [2023]
..... Four wanted to know what the catch was - there is no catch - 16 responded positively and the other four eventually said yest, too. unanimous.
..... Well, of course.
..... Now hold on a moment. I asked another 20 people what they think of the United Auto Workers demanding, aside from higher wages, a 32-hour workweek.
..... All of a sudden, it came into question, with 12 people opposing it and tow uncertain.
..... Notice something here? It seems to me that when the benefit was applied to someone in the first person, it was unquestionable but when it was applied to others in the third person, we get into a bit of a jealousy thing.
..... Let me be clear. a 32-hour, 4-day work week, where applicable, would be the best thing to happen to us since Henry Ford instituted the 40-hour, 5-day week 101 years ago, and that Congress institutionalized 18-years later. The wheels of government grind slowly, do they not? Always have.
..... Anyway, lest you think this is a new idea, it is far from that. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), workers in Germany work 1, 356 hours per year on average, compared to more than 2,200 hours worked by their Mexican counterparts. Americans work 1,780 while Japaneses work 1,710, a 32-hour week would amount to 1,600 hours per year, a number that Americans would love but that Germans - uh, not so much. Yet be those number as they may, 5% of German workers say they work "very long hours," compared with an OECD average of 13%.
..... An interesting perspective comes into play when you compare the hours worked by country with the position each country has on the Global Happiness Index (GHI). while it's too much data for an article this long, suffice to say that there;s almost a perfect inverse relationship between hours worked and happiness. The United States ranks 16th on the GHI, and all 15 countries above us have significantly shorter work hours. Worldwide, this is a point of focus. The advantage of working lees - while maintaining or even improving productivity -are innumerable: societal, social, cultural, health, leisure, family, lifestyle, education. It doesn't end. But is this just a pipe dream?
..... Not in Iceland, where a 5-year government study (2015 to 2019) showed that when a 32-hour, 4-day week was instituted productivity was the same or improved in nearly all workplaces, morale was higher everywhere and unions renegotiated work patterns. Workers reported they were less stressed, less at risk of burnout, in better health, experienced improved work-life balance, had more family time, and had more time for hobbies, recreation, and household chores.
..... Today 86% of their workforce have moved to the new schema or have the right to do so. (Sources: Autonomy, a UK research organization, and Association for Sustainable Democracy in Iceland. Reported by the BBC).
..... In Spain, regional pilots began in 2017, followed by a nationwide experiment soon to conclude. The results and participant's feedback echoed that of Iceland. (Source: ABC) And in New Zealand and Japan, Unilever and Microsoft began more limited - yet significant p studies. (Source: BBC).
..... Here in the States, we're behind many countries in moving to a 4-day week, although we almost universally embrace the hybrid model of working remote for at least a couple of days a week. We Americans work too hard, perhaps not for the current framework, but certainly for the way things will be - although we don't typically complain about it.
..... So when the UAW is front and center on the 4-day week, I think it merits our consideration and support. As an independent career coach and job market observer for more than a quarter of a century, I also think the UAW deserves our thanks for taking the strongest step yet in that direction.
..... If you like your 3-day w3eekends, think of what you'd do with 52 of them each year.

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