The radical idea of a world without jobs

Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by mseebach on Friday January 19, 2018 @07:22AM (#16185667)

He, and Keynes' prediction of 15 hour work weeks, were largely right. We spend quite few hours in the week doing the work we need for basic shelter, food and security, at least to a 1845/1930 standard. You could theoretically live in a simple house in a non-congested corner of countryside and feed a small family simple food on perhaps a days average wages a week (there are some logistics around actually getting someone to hire you for a day a week).

What they got wrong is that the things we ended up prioritizing for the rest of the time are luxuries, that costs money and that we thus need to work to afford, rather than merely leisure time. This then pushes us to want to live in (expensive) cities, to be near better jobs and luxury spending opportunities, which again means we have to earn more to afford this.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by zaptheimpaler on Friday January 19, 2018 @07:38AM (#16185741)

Not really - you can't choose to work 15 hour weeks at most places, even if that is all the money you need. I know if I could CHOOSE to work 20hrs/week and get paid half the salary I definitely would, but that's not an option for 99% of us. I prioritize time over luxuries, but employers still dictate the terms.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by wastedhours on Friday January 19, 2018 @08:51AM (#16186138)

Interestingly, you're legally allowed to ask for this in the UK (it's still at the employer's discretion, but more places, especially large ones, will actively consider it if you're worth keeping).

I chose to alter mine slightly, cutting from 37.5 to 35 (I could have gone properly part-time to 20 if I didn't need the money), and everything is just pro rated.

Perhaps it's a Europe vs US thing, but it's fairly common to request changes to your career design to allow for flexible working. Obviously it works best for knowledge worker jobs, but it's also applicable to all kinds of shift-pattern work too.

The argument of course is that if you need multiple people to cover the role, the overhead cost is more. However, on a twofold point: many employers know about the BS around productive hours and don't always need cover (I work with people who work shorter hours than I and they aren't covered), and larger organisations (the unsexy ones) can abosrb this without barely a glance.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by Simon_says on Friday January 19, 2018 @08:34AM (#16186051)

You can't choose 15 hour work weeks over a 45 year career, but you can choose to work 45 hour weeks over a 15 year career and retire. It's doable, but it helps if you adopt a 1950s-esque lifestyle and standard of living.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by pbhjpbhj on Friday January 19, 2018 @07:45AM (#16185786)

3 employees doing 20hrs costs more than one doing 60hrs even if the pay is the same. That said I'd expect 3 employees to also bring more value and have greater productivity.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by yoz-y on Friday January 19, 2018 @07:45AM (#16185788)

This case would probably be easier as self-employed, but then the income is not guaranteed.

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Re:The radical idea of a world without jobs by tonyedgecombe on Friday January 19, 2018 @09:40AM (#16186492)

Retail loves having part time workers because it gives them more resilience.

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