feedFour Day Work Week
From The Globe & Mail:
The Nova Scotia government is looking at switching to a four-day work week in a bid to conserve energy.
Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt said Thursday the idea came up during a brainstorming session at Conserve Nova Scotia, a government agency that encourages people to use energy more efficiently.
Of all the reasons to consider a four day work week, I think energy savings is probably the weakest — especially in a more rural province like Nova Scotia, where people will likely spend their extra day off driving around.
But I do think the four-day work week is a great idea for a lot of industries. Working four 10-hour days as opposed to five eight-hour days means more ‘core time’ and less time winding up and winding down. Plus, three days gives people the chance to actually get away on the weekend and come back feeling refreshed.
I know it’s something 37signals has done to great success. I’d be interested to hear about other examples.
How is economic stimulus for a reason? When the work week was standardized, Roosevelt wanted it to be only 4 days instead of 5. He thought if people had more time on the weekends, then they would spend more, thus stimulating the economy. (I think it’s true. I would definitely spend more if I had more time.)
I know one of the Detroit automakers’ unions are currently lobbying for it, and Utah’s government workers just made the switch too.
My employer would laugh if a 4 day work week was suggested. I already head into work on Saturdays for a half day, but then I’m compensated by a higher pay, so to me it’s a trade-off.
Of course government makes the suggestion, they hardly do any work on Fridays anyway.