Experiments with a shorter workweek have shown that shown that working fewer hours improves worker well-being and productivity. But we can’t expect employers to implement this transformative change of their own volition.
Experiments with a shorter workweek have shown that shown that working fewer hours improves worker well-being and productivity. But we can’t expect employers to implement this transformative change of their own volition.
No it isn’t. NO IT ISN’T. The overwhelming majority of people do not work salaried jobs.
In the industry I work in, I would end up on the street if I only worked four days a week.
Entire trades such as appliance repair, construction, and especially manufacturing would struggle under a four-day work week.
Every time I see this argument, it boils my blood.
What about teachers? Are students only supposed to attend school four days a week? There are not enough teachers to run multiple overlapping schedules throughout the week.
What about competition? Are we going to prohibit companies from operating five days a week? If one company switches to four days, another will simply step in and say, “We’ll work five.”
As long as our economy remains based on scarcity, there will be no universal four-day work week.
Now go ahead and downvote me and tell me how great socialism is.
Seems you haven’t read past the headline any time you’ve encountered this.
In the industry you work in, your employer would be required to raise your hourly rate such that you would be paid the same as you were in the old scheme. The same thing happened when 40 hour work weeks were mandated.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-4-day-school-week-what-research-shows-about-the-alternative-schedule/2026/04 Academically, there is little difference in a 4 vs 5 day instruction week, but certain non-academic markers improve, including teacher retention rates.
The main driver of a 4 day week is that people are at least as productive in those four days, and have more time to live their lives - leading to them being more rested and able to be more productive. There are already companies using a 32-hour workweek and are quite successful. If this is adopted on a large-scale, companies clinging to a 40-hour week simply will not be able to compete in recruiting quality workers.
As long as rubes like you believe that you just have to grind harder and your millions will come, there will be no four-day week
Go ahead and downvote me and tell me how much you love the taste of boot. Maybe also read up on how McCarthy created a propaganda system to denigrate socialism and communism to enrich corporate America at your expense.
And you seem to have a problem understanding basic economics.
And where would this additional money come from? In my line of work I get paid per work order closed. And that money comes from a fixed flat rate we charge. If our flat rate went up a small company would swoop in with a lower flat rate and would be willing to work more than 4 days a week.
So do you pay teachers for the amount of time they work decreasing how little money they already make? There is a reason why schools operate the way they do and it’s not because the four day or five day work week is better or worse they operate with the fact that parents work. That’s why school starts so early. So parents can get their kids ready for school and not be late to work. What are parents supposed to do with their kids if they have a free day? Pay more for daycare or a babysitter? How would you cover that cost? As a parent I heavily rely on the school schedule to keep my kids safe while I work. But you’re right academically there is no difference between going to school for 4 days or 5. Which apparently is the only metric your little brain has come up with.
I once again agree and the amount of companies and industries that can support this kind of throughput is few and far between. I noticed you glossed over those parts. Salaried office workers comprise only a small fraction of the work force in America. Office workers aren’t keeping this country afloat. It’s plumbers and electricians and garbage men. Industries that cannot adopt a 4 day work week.
This is what pissed me off the most. Where did you draw this conclusion from? Did I say anything like I think we should grind harder and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps? You think I don’t see the massive wealth inequality especially in America? That people are literally dying on the job day to day? Or the pro corporation administration currently in power in the US? We’re fucked. We’re all fucked. As a four day work week isn’t the solution. Which is why I brought up the fact that we live in a Scarcity-Based economy, which you once again glossed over conveniently.
As for the part about McCarthy I’ll leave with my regular disclaimer before this becomes the topic of conversation: Socialism refers to collective ownership of the means of production. Social democracy refers to a capitalist market economy supplemented by welfare programs, labor protections, and public services. The two terms are not interchangeable despite frequent misuse on the internet. You are describing and advocating for social democracy not socialism.
https://youtube.com/shorts/zMmjKRettxA
The number of days an individual employee is working doesn’t necessarily dictate the number of days the business can operate.
So some people are going to work four days a week, but management is still working six?
Are companies supposed to double their workforce to cover the missing day? Who pays for all those additional employees? If employees are only working four days a week, are they taking a pay cut? Or are businesses expected to pay the same wages for fewer hours?
What about small businesses? Where are they supposed to find the additional revenue? And how are they supposed to compete with companies that continue operating on a traditional five-day schedule?
What about people like me who are paid based on completed work orders? Do I suddenly need to complete 14 work orders a day just to make the same income? Or do we charge homeowners significantly more to make up the difference?
And what about business owners themselves? Do they only work four days a week, too?
Every time this idea comes up, people talk about the benefits, but they rarely explain how the math is supposed to work in industries where revenue is directly tied to labor and hours worked.
You would be more productive per hour in a 32 hour work week than in 40, simply by being more rested. Because of this, you don’t really produce much less in 4 days than in 5.
Your boss can still pay you based on completed work orders. Because you’ll be able to complete more every day, because you’re more productive.
If you’re compensated based on hourly work, your hourly rate just needs to increase by 20%, which is fair, because you’re still getting the same amount of work done.
People are telling you how this works and how we solve the issues. Try listening to them instead of being closed minded.
Did you even read the questions I asked?
I do not work hourly. Where is that missing 20% of revenue supposed to come from? Are employers supposed to magically generate it out of thin air?
I already complete seven work orders a day. If I lose a day or two of work each week, I would have to increase that to nine or more work orders per day just to make up the difference. No matter how you slice it, I would lose a significant amount of income on a four-day work week.
We cannot simply raise our flat rates either. This is a competitive industry. If we raise prices too much, another company will undercut us and take the business. That is how markets work.
And you still have not answered one of my main questions: what about the companies that want or need to operate more than four days a week?
I will freely admit that there are monopolies and conglomerates in certain sectors of the economy. But competition absolutely still exists throughout much of the private sector, especially among small businesses.
There is no giant nationwide conglomerate dominating plumbing, electrical work, or appliance repair. Those industries are overwhelmingly made up of small companies competing with each other.
What frustrates me is that you are not actually addressing the concerns being raised. You keep focusing on a few specific points while ignoring the larger practical questions about labor costs, revenue, staffing, competition, and business viability.
A four-day work week may work in some industries. I do not dispute that. But saying it is broadly feasible across most industries in America ignores the economic realities many businesses and workers face.
The work week we have today did not appear out of nowhere. It developed because of a large number of economic, logistical, and operational factors.
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