A 40-Hour Work Week

What an annoying little twat.

I’m on the side of the youngsters. The 40 hour work week assumed a wife was home keeping the home up and cooking meals.

A 40 hour work week means you’re working during daylight hours and too exhausted to do anything else.

I tole my boss I work only 40 a week, she got treated. Ain’t take shit from nobody.

Add commuting and it takes up so much of our lives. You'd better love what you do or it's a neverending prison.

Man OP, I have a very different response than you.

I think the fact that these young adults are questioning the entire paradigm is fucking healthy as hell. The US used to lead in quality of life, no longer, why the hell shouldn’t they side eye giving over your true calling or dream to run in the rat race? I think it’s good because I have never witnessed more corporate abuse of employees than right now, their greed is *disgusting*. No rationale human should desire the rare race.

So many of them want to have flex time, when the company doesn't work that way. You can't always get what you want.

That’s why I have a job that I’m physically at 40 hours a week but do all my personal stuff at because actual work is about an hour a day

Can someone translate r3 into English for me?

TIA!

I'm 54 and I agree with her video (as annoying as she is in it). Many other countries don't believe in America's "work to live" mentality. It's fucking bullshit. I'm not a goddamn robot, I'm a human fucking being and I wasn't meant to work more than half of my waking hours daily. Nobody was.

I've worked my ENTIRE life, I'm not wealthy, I came from a very poor family and started working when I was 16. I'm sick of this shit. And no, I can't retire because I don't have any retirement. Now I have a bunch of health issues as well on top of it all.

Fuck the establishment. What, exactly, are they really doing for us anyhow?

I want her to live on a farm for a summer and get back to us.

What about hobs where you are needed to work at least that, such as fire fighters, paramedics, medicine, nursing, care work, support work?

Not every career can offer flexibility, you either have to be there or people will die. Not to mention teachers, lawyers, etc

Fewer working hours were one of the early enticements used by factories during industrialization to lure people off of the farms and into manufacturing. Kellogg and Ford were pioneers and champions of shorter and fewer work days than typical for their time.

A shorter work week used to be a Republican policy point and none other than Richard Nixon, then Vice President, predicted a four-day work week in the “not too distant future.”

Reagan changed all of that and overworking became a sign of success, stress a badge of honor. The internet and the Blackberry only worsened the situation.

^^I forgot to mention that even before I started earning money for my work, I worked on our homestead from the age of 10 and up. We did the dishes every day (no dishwasher, handwashed), we did our own laundry (hung out to dry on the line, folded them, and in the case of my mom's clothes - ironed), we fed/watered/muckraked all of our animals (pigs, chickens, horses, goats), milked our goat, we did weekend "projects" given to us from our parents ("we're clearing this 1/2 acre of land this weekend, get your work boots on!").

So I've worked hard. Both in the workplace and on a farm/homestead as well.

Agree r12/Tony. It's become this weird cult of busy-ness. Very odd that work itself becomes the whole goal of work. Where work becomes its own reward, in some endless loop of stupid wage slavery.

And even those jobs r11. You know what you do when you have to staff those jobs for longer hours? You hire more people and have shifts. Do you imagine that firefighters all work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

R13, I don’t think she’s on your wavelength. She seems like parody, but I can’t tell anymore. She can’t seem to see her presumption of white-collar work at all.

I really do want her to experience walking beams or detasseling corn.

No harsh fluorescent lights!

I’m all for working fewer hours with higher efficiency. As a public elementary school teacher, part of r11’s contingent, I would love fewer kids. But fewer hours just doesn’t work for the job.

R14 no I don't but I believe they are needed for at least 40 hours

Too bad she wasn't alive when children had to work in the coal mines, etc. Then she would have had something to whine about.

Believe-it-or-not, a 40-hour M-F work week was a big improvement when it was instituted. And those of us on salary often work much longer AND take work home.

Tell her to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and then get back to me.

no, SOMEBODY is needed all those hours. That is why you hire enough to fill all the needed hours. And come on. Teachers? Lawyers? These are jobs that have absolutely NO flexibility in when people have to be there? Really?

And agree r13, that sounds like it sucks. We should not make that some ideal of society now and forever. Especially assholes in Congress and pundits who very much DON'T live like that should stop holding it up as some fucking ideal.

[quote]—I know I'm going to get roasted, but I don't care

Not from me, kid. Not from me.

And I’ll defend you if you do, because I agree with you totally.

[quote] The US used to lead in quality of life

When? lol

[quote] Believe-it-or-not, a 40-hour M-F work week was a big improvement when it was instituted.

Fortune magazine

Is this a parody video? Persons around the world are starving and would gladly accept a 40 hour work week. I think young people are delusional.

And.

I just finished my 62.5 hour work week.

The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

It's difficult because a lot of places like doctors offices and veterinarian's offices are mainly open on weekdays. If you go to the grocery store on Saturday, it will be a madhouse.

I've been working from home for the past 4 years. I can barely remember what it was like to have to wake up an hour and a half earlier, get dressed, then take a 45-minute ride to work via public transportation. Then have to take another 45 commute back home at the end of the day. And if I missed my train or bus, the trip could take half an hour longer.

It think the best solution would be to take off Sunday plus a week day. Everyone in the company should stagger their weekdays so that not everyone is out on the same weekday. Or, people could rotate weekdays they're off. Then on your weekday off, you can go to the doctor without having to take leave, and you can go to the grocery store without having to deal with the weekend crowd.

R27 I agree. I enjoyed flex time when it was an option at work. I finally got to my schedule a point where I was never at work more than two half days without a break whether it was a half day or full day. The only issue was most people wanted a three day weekend. I chose Wednesday.

That would actually be sensible r27. It's so very odd to have this economy where services and manufacturing and administrative office work all have to be on the same time schedule. It's pretty idiotic, actually, and of course a lot of places like bars and restaurants don't work that way. And for that reason they don't feel the need to open exactly when everything else opens. They try to be open when they actually have a likelihood of customers. That could be spread throughout society in a lot of different contexts as well.

Completely agree, r27.

I worked in a 24x7 environment where 2x a month we’d have a weekday off and have to work Saturday. You could swap with people to get their days off, they yours, etc. People used to be shocked because I would trade them my Saturday off to get a weekday off.

It’s completely different having a weekday off for the reasons you mentioned and also it always felt like I was “getting away with something” because everyone else had to work.

[quote] It think the best solution would be to take off Sunday plus a week day.

I disagree. You should have at least 2 days off, in a row.

That said, when I worked in restaurants, I had Sundays and Mondays off. At first, I hated it. Then, I liked it, for the same reasons you said. Lots of things are open (and not crowded) on Mondays.

R20, I totally own that I was ranting partially from emotion and I cannot back that up. When I said it though, the context I was in are unions. I was born in Chicago, ‘72, and unions were sooooooo strong. All families in my hometown of Elk Grove Village had excellent schools (highest paying in NW burbs), amazing park district (massive tax revenue from country’s largest industrial park), superior fire/police, incredible hospital, blahblahblah. And it was quite diverse, mainly Polish, Irish, Italian, but I also had friends that were: Japanese, Assyrian, Egyptian, Korean, Jordanian, AA, and so forth. We really were School House Rock’s “Great American Melting Pot”.

Also, our library was unbelievable, I lived there as a kid. It was also very very safe. Really, the biggest issue, in spite of all of this great stuff, was there was a TON of alcohol and drug abuse, the high school and even junior high were infested, partying was a rite of passage. A good friend of mine had the morbid honor of having her totaled car towed into the football field, this was the first time a deadly car accident was a huge deal due to their being inebriated. That started to change the culture.

Anyway, the unions protected the families, and the paid really really well. So many people didn’t go to college, and often they made more than most, they had a really great quality of life.

And blue-collar workers weren’t ashamed of their lack of education because they kept their dignity by being paid well, with full benefits, retirement/pension, sending their kids to college without debt, and more. That’s just one place, but a LOT of the Midwest had a similar thing going on, especially if you lived in a major metro area. That’s all gone now. And it pisses me the fuck off.

Sorry TL;DR I know.

I don’t believe we were put on this earth just to spend our waking hours at some bullshit job. It’s a ruse to keep the masses in line.

I love Elk Grove Village r32. I'm from Albany Park in Chicago, but my dad's family lived in Res Plaines and Elk Grove Village. I still love it today, but don't get there as much. I'm not in IL anymore. You are spot on about the unions too. Their loss has devastated this country.

Team Youngsters

I cannot remember when I worked 40 hours or more.

37.5 hour weeks are the norm for me.

👋 from Europe

If we're talking about a white collar desk job (rather than, say, flipping burgers), fewer hours just means having to accomplish in the fewer hours what you used to have 40 hours to accomplish. Great! More stress! More mistakes! More worktime-deprived rushing workers trying to shoo clients off the phone so they can get their day's projects done! I get it that nobody likes to invest their life's time in doing mind-numbing office crap, but fewer hours would only make things worse.

[quote]The US used to lead in quality of life, no longer

When was that ? Never.

I don't recall any Europeans - especially Italians where they go home in the afternoon for a 'siesta' to break up the work day and return for a few hours in the evening - say Americans lead in quality of life.

It's possible to think putting in face time sucks and still think she's an obnoxious brat.

The appropriate response is "Ha, ha. Get ready to do this for the next 40 years," bitch."

I really don't care about working 40 hours, I just HATE working five days a week. I'd rather just work for 10 good hours and be off a third day.

r37 the system is set up to make you believe that. Realistically, they (big businesses that make far more $$ than you'll ever make) want you to believe you are LUCKY to have this job, work this many hours, maybe get healthcare, and oh...try to squeeze 2 1/2 people's job into your schedule. The truth is, they are making $$ hand over fist on the backs of peons like you and giving you bupkus for your labor, stress, hard work. And dammit, you better be grateful for it!!

Drones. We've been turned into drones who blindly accept what scraps they throw to us because they know we don't have the backbones to stand up for fair wages, actual healthcare for all, safe and non-toxic (physically as well as mentally) workplaces, time off for vacations, parental leave, sick time, etc. And they'll keep doing it. Because we keep accepting "that's just the way it is."

But that's just NOT the way it is. That's the way it is in fucking America because that's the way we LET it be. Check out other countries where working is not everyone's raison d'etre and they have actual lives outside of just making money to survive. This country sucks.

R12, great insight. Thank you.

I thought sick was a good thing. Now it doesn't??

[quote] r17 Too bad she wasn't alive when children had to work in the coal mines, etc. Then she would have had something to whine about.

[bold] ChimneySweepsUnite!

Cry babies

[bold]#CryBabiesUnite!

I love how some of you can’t just debate the argument, “just cuz”. It’s just so hard to admit that your life sucks, eh? Easier to do it this way, so you can just put your head down and keep rolling as a corporate slave until you drop dead, because you sure as shit won’t make it to social security at 80, which seems to be our current trajectory (that my opinion only).

I mean, that’s cool. It’s cool if you’re good with being bent over by corporations and/or the rat race. It’s cool that you trust this is all going to work out. I know it’s much easier to not look at your life than to admit that you’re not happy? That technique works so well.

That chick is doing a parody, trying to get an agent or Billy Eichner to notice her. Everyone be on the hustle, 40 a week or not.

It’s fine if people don’t want to work but expecting the system to change for them, when they are largely useless and unimaginative, is weak. The younger generation are zombies who complain constantly.

There’s no reason for a forty hour work week, or a work week for that matter. It’s amazing how many bootlickers to those in power exist. It’s fucking exhausting.

R37, has it occurred to you that the problem is your bosses have people like you doing the work of 2-3 people? If you're so stressed about mistakes and time management that you can't fathom spending less time at work, the problem isn't people not working enough.

Wake up.

Bootlicker thread.

"Many other countries don't believe in America's "work to live" mentality."

It's actually "live to work."

And anyone using "The Jungle" as a baseline for why no one should complain about the current state of capitalism is a fucking nitwit. Go back to jerking off to your John Birch Society newsletter.

OP linked to a LibsofTikTok spinoff account, which I doubt most people on DL realize.

I would love it if some DLer would explain to me why all of you are OBSESSED every time one dumb person say dumb things online for attention, and why you think it matters to your life, or the lives of anyone else.

But my guess is that none of you CAN explain it. OP just showed you something and you dutifully acted outraged without thinking about it for even a second.

The video is a parody, OP. Lost on you.

My office job is 40 hours *not* including breaks and lunch, plus close to an hour commute each way. So that’s 55 hours per week minimum if I happen to not work late at all.

[quote]My office job is 40 hours *not* including breaks and lunch, plus close to an hour commute each way. So that’s 55 hours per week minimum if I happen to not work late at all

LOL - do your daily 8 hours your "working" include spending time on DL?

I sincerely doubt that you work the entire 8 hour day without chatting with the other sows at the trough or Linda from accounting about anything except work.

R48, I kinda think so too.

40 hours a week is plenty

Try self employment. Seems like you're always working or on call. I still wouldn't trade it for an office job. I may work a lot but my schedule is entirely my own.

[quote]do your daily 8 hours your "working" include

Oh, dear!

r53 I know what the correct phrase is, and I purposely chose the transposition to illustrate the fact that (unless you are born or marry into wealth and privilege or win the lottery) if you don't work a shit ton of hours under not great conditions making shit wages and getting little to no benefits, you will be lucky if you live long.

And I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that philosophy at all. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? I want fucking TIME to work on the "pursuit of happiness." Not all of us have and can work doing the thing we love most. So how about having the time, energy and some semblance of resources to work on the pursuit of happiness OUTSIDE of the necessity of earning money? Hmm?

That's what I'm talking about, dear.

There’s nothing magical about 8 hour days. It’s just a standard. Why does everyone defend it like it’s etched in stone?

Most people who are exempt vs. non-exempt work a lot more than 40 hours. Exempt is just a scam by corporations, who improve the bottom line by laying off people and dumping more work on the backs of employees. And fun fact, being exempt doesn’t even guarantee overtime.

That bitch needs a good kick to the cunt.

…bone.

FIFY

I put in 12 hour minimum days 6 to 7 days a week for 33 years. I was the first one in the office and always the last one out. And I loved every second of it until the day I retired. This stupid child has no idea. She'll probably go from husband to husband her whole life looking for someone to support her. No man is going to put up with her sort for long.

r67 ^^ are you Japanese?

[quote] I put in 12 hour minimum days 6 to 7 days a week for 33 years. I was the first one in the office and always the last one out.

Not everybody wants that kind of life.

Don’t NOBODY want that kind of life!

R67, do you lay on your back for a living?

Gotta to pay your dues, sugar britches. Now run along back to your cube. Come talk to us when you are 60.

That is EXACTLY the kind of job that could have fewer hours r37. That dicking around with nonsense meetings and nonsense discussions and nonsense team building that I'm sure you do is EXACTLY what could be cut out if we didn't have this mentality that we MUST fill 40 hours (or 50 or 60 hours) every week, cause anything else is unthinkable. Well it is very thinkable. Think about it. All that "day's projects" stuff is what managers have to come up with to fill largely useless hours. It is corporate nonsense for the most part and everybody should stop pretending it is actually accomplishing anything.

[quote] are you Japanese?

No, just an American who was taught that hard work pays off. And I am living proof it has done just that.

Well pin on a rose on you, Bitch r74. For most people with jobs, hard work is just hard work and actually leads to nothing but more hard work. We have forgotten what work is for, and it has become a fetish. We should break that fetish and walk away from it.

Yes, for the company.

[quote] Well pin on a rose on you, Bitch [R74].

Well, we can certainly see why you hate your job. Maybe you should seek one you would like better so you wouldn't be so saucy.

The 40 hour work week had several things in common. Today we have urban centers with desirable jobs and traffic choked roads to get there.

1) Cheap affordable housing near where people worked. 2) Roads and highways that could get people home quickly. 3) A spouse who could take care of the domestic stuff--and they could afford to have a spouse not working. 4) Plentiful paid vacation time. 5) Healthcare benefits people could afford to use. 6) Paid sick days.

These are rarely a given today. Part of the reason for fast food and restaurant staffing is that in our economy, these people were able to get real jobs with benefits and moved on. But they didn't just abandon 1 service /fast food job. They've quit up to 3 because a good portion of these workers had 2-4 part time jobs in order to keep a roof over their heads.

R74 is addicted to Big Macs. So it’s working out well for him at Mickey D’s.

R71, Even if so that's hard work. I once used to whore as a side hustle. It ain't easy sleeping with people you aren't attracted to.

Yeah, the 8-hour work day / 40-hour work week was considered an improvement. (Not that things can't be improved further.)

I'm enjoying hearing from the self-absorbed lazybones among us, who are exactly the reason that responsible people have to do the work of two or three or ten. No, we [italic] haven't [/italic] been duped by a mysterious worldwide conspiracy of rich capitalists, those imaginary slavemaster bogeymen who evidently make you shake in your sandals. We see that there is work to be done, and do it, unlike slackers, who will dream up anything to make the world revolve around them, and will go into paroxysms of sarcasm and rage when they see anyone asserting anything inconsistent with their being allowed to indulge their little whims 24 hours a day every day. Reduce the work week ever so much, such people will always want it reduced even more. "Wake up," indeed.

8-hour days is just another arbitrary concept. Why not 6-hour days without a lunch break?

8 hours is not arbitrary. It was fought for by the unions, specifically, "on May 1, 1886, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions called for a national strike demanding an eight-hour workday."

Then, there was the "Fair Labor Standards Act [1938], establishing an eight-hour day and forty-hour week."

Sorry, but as someone who typically works a 9-11 hours work day in the office, often without time for a lunch break, and frequently does catch-up work on weekends, I have zero sympathy

She can become a ho who works at home and sets her own hours.

But she’d probably complain about having to wash sheets.

Did you see her?

A Ho? Oh, no!

[quote]Sorry, but as someone who typically works a 9-11 hours work day in the office, often without time for a lunch break, and frequently does catch-up work on weekends, I have zero sympathy

The bigger question is why do you do it? If you own your own business, then I understand, but if not, you’re just doing the work of 2 or 3 people to make someone else rich. And if you died tomorrow, they’d replace you just as quickly without even remembering your name.

most people hate their job r77. Your team building exercises aren't working. Your potlucks aren't working. Your belief that if everybody puts a little smile on their face and pretends it's all fun isn't working. none of it is working. Most jobs suck and that is just how it is. No fantasy about work as fun is going to change that. Just stop with that shit. Deal in reality, put aside fantasy, and deal with the reality of what work actually is and isn't.

[quote] Sorry, but as someone who typically works a 9-11 hours work day in the office, often without time for a lunch break, and frequently does catch-up work on weekends, I have zero sympathy

Are you salaried or hourly? If hourly and making OT for any time in excess of 8 hours per day / 40 hours per week, then, you're getting compensated. If salaried, then that would depend on salary (enough to feel happy) and how much you enjoy or don't enjoy your work.

Exactly, Dutchie. It is such a bizarre concept that because somebody came up with the 8-hour day in the 19th century (which, yes, was better than what most people had then), but the idea that that is the last possible word on the subject is crazy. It is such a weird religious doctrine to latch onto. That now and forever more, the 40-hour week was handed down by God and nobody must ever question it again.

Just seems to me the desire is for money for nothing, and the clicks are free.

No working!

No student loan debt!

Take care of me, mommy and daddy!

The nuance of satire is lost on Datalounge.

Seems to me like you are a complete twat who for some reason has latched onto a weird religious doctrine of work for its own sake r92.

Self-awareness is not you strong suit OP

And you sound like a slacker, r95. Do you aspire to be an "influencer?"

I hated working, proven by my early retirement at fifty-two.

Companies want you to devote all your making hours to them and not take vacation —all for a middling salary.

It’s amazing how they have conned Americans into believing that you must work constantly or else it’s your fault and you’re lazy.

Great, again pin a rose on you r97. You worked and then got out of that shit. Well good for you, bitch. Now stop worshiping work as some sacred being that must be defended at all costs. Let people who are working actually change the workplace and stop pretending it is some religion that must be preserved exactly as is for all eternity.

I work 40+ hours but it’s because I manage 15 people, including two supervisors, and all the staff have different projects with deadlines. I also have to do a ton of writing or writing cleanup on reports, because it’s hard to find good writers or analysts.

I fully expect AI to do my job in the future. Many managers have to work a lot but it’s a trade off with higher salary and retirement funded. I would never hire this bitch by the way.

Any other former or current service workers, healthcare, transportation or law enforcement here? As someone who worked weird shifts, insane overtime and holidays etc for years I can say that the "workday" and "work week" most people have is just an illusion.

I agree with those who said this stuff is not etched in stone. Post-pandemic we really need rethink everything. Its so wasteful for most people to commute 5 days a week to any job, it's horrible for the environment and we pour tons of resources into building huge roads just so people can get into an office at 8:30 or 9am every weekday.

They should start by cutting school to 4 days a week, I bet then the straights will be begging for 4-day work weeks when there is no one to watch their kids. So many of the breeders got special FMLA during Covid just because their kids had to stay home.

R97 You sound like a bitter old cunt proven by your self righteous post.

God damn. Today was not the day to install the self righteous app. My iPad just melted!

R101, former restaurant worker here. I can say that, if I did work more than 8 hours per day or more than 40 hours per week, I did get overtime.

The shitty thing about restaurant work is working on holidays. Yes, you do get time-and-a-half, but it's still a bummer to be serving people on Thanksgiving, etc.

There were some good things about restaurant work. I was somewhat able to support myself when I was young. (Minimal surplus for savings, but I could pay my bills on time.) Free or low-cost food and drink. In general, you won't have to wake up early (unless you're a pastry chef).

One thing I will say for restaurant work, you are generally doing something useful for somebody most of the time you are there. Getting something, making something, serving something that people actually want. Most office work is just bullshit after bullshit after bullshit. And as for finance? Well, most of that is complete horseshit. Weird how the most useless bullshit is generally the best paid in our society.

That is a gross generalization. Many people work in offices to keep everything working, from courts to services to roads.

[quote]R85 Sorry, but as someone who typically works a 9-11 hours work day in the office, often without time for a lunch break, and frequently does catch-up work on weekends, I have zero sympathy

I hope you love your work. Or a well compensated.

Not really r106. Much of it is looking busy and could be done in a lot less time. Or fulfilling arbitrary nonsense because somebody needs to fill the time.

^^Emphasis added to r107's post, and the other guy upthread who worked "every day, 12 hours a day." Fuck that noise! The only way I'm working that amount of hours/time is if I absolutely adore my work (as in it's my passion) and also have no love life or family/friends.

Meh. Its sad that for so many of you, the measure of all accomplishments in life is how many hours in a day you can work. I mean god bless if you derive your sense of self-worth and identity from what your job title is. I always thought it fucking absurd but I played along.

I did it for 20 years - creative director in advertising - and the pressure, stress and anxiety made me absolutely mad. And I'm not talking 40 hours a week. More like 65. Am I now making 300k with bonus anymore? Fuck no. But my god am I happier. And wish I pulled out sooner.

"And I'm not talking 40 hours a week. More like 65. "

An addendum. That was an average week. Half the year it was 70-90 hours a week. Wheeee....

I can’t think of any job where you can make good money and not have to work 40 hours a week. Maybe if you are on OnlyFans but that is temporary.

It probably comes down to what you consider "good money" r112. Obsessive moneygrubbing does probably require obsessive working. But is it necessary? Probably not.

Paper-pushing jobs are important, too. When Covid hit, it revealed a weakness in my town's unemployment claims system. Years & years ago, the administrative heads had had opportunities to upgrade the system, with federal funding. One guy wanted to do it; the rest of the heads did not. (People don't want to do unsexy, preventative, proactive stuff, it seems.)

Anyway, the shit hit the fan when Covid caused tons of unemployment insurance claims. The computer systems were not up-to-speed. People had to wait a long time to get their first checks, etc.

And that right there is the bullshit of so much office work r114. Bunch of fucks going through the motions of pretending to give a shit while actual work never gets done. Yes, part of it is not providing the necessary tools, but much of it is a mentality that just says, look busy, don't actually get any shit done, just go through the motions.

[quote]And wish I pulled out sooner.

My father used to say the same thing to me when I was a kid.

I work therefore I am.

[quote] Italians where they go home in the afternoon for a 'siesta'

Oh, dear.

There’s a no work movement going on.

Huge on Reddit.

Down with work!

Hard wok. Don't knock it. It gets you out of your head and keeps you out of trouble, especially if you're a man. We were built for it, whether hand or mind. Lastly, and importantly, EVERYONE loves a hard worker. Check me on it.

work*

I am 43 and working 60 hours a week- and barely able to keep this shit afloat.

R115 are you long term unemployed?

A Chick-fil-a owner somewhere switched to a three-day, 14-hour/day work week. For that kind of work, and for the age group (18-ish), that makes a lot of sense.

R122 Always nice to hear from 1862.

[quote]They should start by cutting school to 4 days a week

Worst idea on the planet.

I'm not going to blame them. Think about it -- if you work 40 hrs and sleep 8 hrs a day, that's 96 hours a week gone, without accounting for commuting, making lunches, etc. There's only 168 hrs in a week. That leaves only 72 hrs to live. Over half our lives are sucked dry by working. Then, if you're lucky, you'll make it to retirement, when the average lifespan 77. Oh boy. 10 yrs finally free but you're at the end of your life.

Society is way overdue for changing the way it functions. Many jobs don't even need people there for 8 hrs, with people filling time between tasks. If we didn't have modern advancements I wouldn't think like that, but we do. Part of the goal with advancing society was to free people from the chains of drudgery. Watch anything from decades ago and it's clear people idealized a future where labor could be greatly reduced, products would become cheaper, allowing the pursuit of other activities that enriched our lives.

R128 more time there doesn't equate to bring more educated unfortunately. Studies even show that kids can only absorb so much info. A good rule of thumb I've seen used successfully is minutes to age -- say you have 12 yr olds; you have about 12 mins to reach them with what you want them to know. Quality over quantity.

School districts are already considering 4 day school weeks. It’s been proposed in Texas recently. Once schools make the shift, our society will do the same for the workforce to adapt to the childcare needs of American families.

Business could easily operate with the same hours of operation, but offer shorter shifts and shorter work weeks for employees. This includes doctors, teachers, law enforcement, retail, food, transportation, etc.

I’m for more flexible schedules and autonomy.

Says the unemployed sage

r131 I accidentally FF'ed your post when I meant to WW it. I agree with you.

I own my own business and sometimes work 65-70 hours a week. My husband is a realtor with crazy-assed hours too.

We love what we do, and the freedom and flexibility to set our own hours, so I have empathy for those desiring Flex Time.

But even as hard as we work, life we lead is easy and luxurious compared to that of my parents and grandparents, who were farmers and ranchers working dawn to after dusk six days a week. So in perspective I’m grateful with zero complaints.

I am also mindful of people who are limited mentally or physically, or by some other fate, with no hope of ever improving their skills, income or lot in life.

Again, zero complaints here.

There is a shoe for every foot, and this little whiner needs to spend her time finding the right fit rather than pitching one.

Be rich, be poor or just scrape by but you better be happy with your choice of livelihood.

You’re “setting your own hours,” but you’re working 65-70 hours per week?

Yes, R35.

If I’m in a busy season I may work 7 days in a row.

Other times I may take a day off in the week, or a series of three or four-day weekends. I never take less than a two-week vacation.

If I need to crank out a lot of work I may take the afternoon off and pick it back up in the evening.

Point being that I’m willing to put in the hours when necessary to nurture the business I’ve built.

Work is a crock. A bunch of bootlickers trying this make everyone as miserable as they are. Native cultures all over the world were wiped out to make way for this work obsession.

I will start a new job in February; only 4,5h a day. Enough to get by, afternoons free.

When I worked a 10 hr/5day week in a major city, our 'lunch hours' were spent trying eat and shop. Shopping was frustrating because stores used the same schedule: No clerks were available from noon 'til one.

Lazy white younger folks. Miss the good old hardworking days when real men worked and women listened for s change. Kids grew up normal.

[quote]Sorry, but as someone who typically works a 9-11 hours work day in the office, often without time for a lunch break, and frequently does catch-up work on weekends, I have zero sympathy

Right back atcha, bootlicker.

R140, the nurse is here with your pills. If you swallow them all you'll get pudding!

Is R140 parody?

I've "WW" both sides here, but yeah, I caught on that the video is a parody.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that some regretful married parents want to get the hell out of the house and report to a job.

It gets them away from it all.

I think one reason younger people want flexibility and don’t want work to be their life is they saw their parents during the Great Recession basically dumped from their jobs no matter how loyal they were. Their thinking is why should I go the extra mile? The company doesn’t.

My 22 yo college grad works for a company that pays for 5 days a week, 40 hours, but expects everyone in her department to respond to 35-40 emails and calls per day on their days off too. She works 50 hours 5 days a week, but won’t respond to the calls and emails. She gets a lot of heat from management for actually taking her 2 days off to recharge, but they can’t fire her because of it. She was also encouraged to get an accreditation that many don’t get until they’re in their 30’s or 40’s, with the promise of a $5 per hour raise. She got it, and they gave her a $.50 raise and a shrug. The company charges a whole lot more for someone with her status. Her boss switches from being a harridan (I’ve seen the emails) to kitten, all day long. She was recently told she needs to let her boss know when she’s going downstairs to talk to admin. She’s the only person in her department who does, and admin bends over backwards to help her, they hate everyone else in her department. The CEO has introduced himself to her 7 times. And this company only has 80 employees.

I’m an entrepreneur, and I would never put my employees through what she goes through. She started working when she was 16, never for me. So she’s not a whiny white kid with unrealistic expectations, and I resent the generalizations. It’s so bad she’s ready to quit, and get out of the industry all together, even though she really enjoys helping her clients. She’s no quitter, but I support her, it is no way to live.

When the EMP hits these sad, noisy, do-nothing infants will be gone in three days, stinking up the planet until someone else disposes of them.

R147, you sound like a conspiracy theorist. What is EMP? Also, way to go at your solution. Let’s kill them all because I don’t like what they say.

R131, "Shorter shifts and shorter work weeks?" I'll bet you'd expect no reduction in pay, though, am I right?

Oh, yes, American employers and tax-payers (schools) would readily acquiesce! 🤣

R149 there's a labor shortage, so why not have it that way? Who determined how many hours a week were necessary? If it was 20 for all this time, you wouldn't think any different than you do about 40. 40 only seems like it's "right" because that's what it's been at. During the industrial revolution I'm guessing 60 was "normal", along with children working all day, but things change as society changes.

^^Nothing changes unless people begin to question what's "normal."

Female (and male) circumcision and childhood engagements and marriages were once considered normal too.

Every study shows that moving to a 4 day work week with the same pay., keeps productivity at the same or even higher levels but employees are much happier and more loyal

Around '08 (?), my coworkers and I got furloughed (without pay) one Friday per month. I did the math and it was ~ a 10% pay cut. At first, people complained. Only one person got a 2nd job, but she and her husband were bad with money to begin with.

In the end, people liked the Friday off. I'm guessing we could have gone up to 2 Fridays off per month.

My brother worked a 3 day week (11 hr shifts) for Proctor & Gamble for over 30 years here in the UK. He retired two years ago at 59 with a seriously good company pension and great share options.

US companies have very different practices abroad.

When my sister had kids, she changed her schedule to working only 3 days per week. Incredibly her income didn’t change much. All work should have this kind of flexibility

R153, I used to work for a company that had 9/80, which was great. Basically you worked nine hours every day (eight on Friday) and got every other Friday off. It was great.

r85 Since this is anonymous -- how much do you get paid for those 9-11 hr workdays that leave you with no empathy for others?

A lot of these posts have the "my parents hit me, and I turned out FINE" vibe.

Yeah r158. I agree.

Me too, R159!