There’s no magic in a 4-day workweek

The Hill ^ | 01/12/2024 | JOSE MARIA BARRERO & STEVEN J. DAVIS

[ChicagoConservative27]

The idea of a four-day workweek is catching attention. Young workers in particular see it as the wave of the future, while others worry it will undermine America prosperity.

Economists have pondered the viability of a four-day workweek since research by Janice Hedges in 1971. Recently, though, a magical idea has come to the fore: Let employees work one fewer day per week at the same hours per day and same pay, and they will accomplish just as much as in a standard five-day workweek.

All the fuss prompted us to ask several hundred American business executives and several thousand American workers some pertinent questions. What we uncovered is mundane, not magical. In the language of “Harry Potter,” there is support for a “muggle” version of the four-day workweek — but not for a magical one.

[BradyLS]

Zackly.

[Uncle Miltie]

Of you work 20% less, expect to get paid 20% less.

No problem.

[BradyLS]

You know it!

[jy8z]

In my younger years when I was punching a clock I was on a 4 X 10 schedule and it worked great. I did that for twelve years and loved it. This was with a very large company that had many different departments. Some of them even worked a 3 X 13 shift.