We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by ekianjo on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:19PM (#5162096)

25 hours to earn less? What's the point of having more free time if you have no money to do anything with it ?

There's a reason why we have a current optimal 40-60 hours kind of range for working hours in most countries. That's an equilibrium point between how much people are willing to work vs how much they are willing to earn. Everyone still wants to have free time, but not at the expense of their well-being or the future of their family (education, etc.).

Working 25 hours and earning the same amount as working 40 would not sit well with companies (if this was made mandatory by state regulation, for example). Local companies would lose their competitive edge vs other companies elsewhere and this would end up in increased unemployment.

Let people work how long they want. That's their choice.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by _delirium on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:21PM (#5162102)

Because of standardization on "normal" workweeks, it's pretty hard to have the choice even if you're willing to forego salary for fewer hours. Google won't let you work a 4-day week for 80% of the regular salary, for example (or even for 60% of it!), and more traditional companies are even less likely to. You take their 5-day, 40-hour offer or you don't. You typically only have an option to work a 25-hour week if you have either a consulting/freelance career, or a very low-end hourly-wage job.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by zanny on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:37PM (#5162163)

One other problem is that the whole 40 hour thing is also a farce in the presence of salaried positions - most places want you on site all day, under the assumption that they can keep you during crunch. If you are only working 4 days, unless you have infamous "come in on Sunday" talks with your boss, they have less opportunities to keep you for free overtime since you are salaried and they often put on weekly caps on extra hours before they have to pay overtime (or none at all, depends on the company).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by ekianjo on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:25PM (#5162118)

Note that the standardization you are talking about is also heavily driven by work regulations, saying that a work week is x hours and nothing else. If such restrictions were abolished I believe there would be much more flexibility (up and down) in the job market.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by _delirium on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:27PM (#5162129)

The regulations just put a maximum; there is nothing preventing companies from offering lower hours if they wish. Before those maximums were brought in, you had the same situation as now, just with more hours being standard: you had to agree to 6-days-a-week, 10+ hour days, or nothing. The union movement successfully negotiated that down to 5-days-a-week, 8-hour days as a cap, which was at least an improvement.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by ekianjo on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:37PM (#5162160)

Note that there are drawbacks in several countries of not working "full time". You do not get the same rights towards a pension, you do not get the same rules for overtime, and other benefits do not apply. Therefore there is also a strong incentive, based on regulations, not to work less than 40 hours either.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by dyno12345 on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @06:03AM (#5170084)

Computer professionals in the US don't get pensions or overtime pay at all.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by hmsimha on Sunday February 03, 2013 @10:42PM (#5162316)

Google is actually known for encouraging their employees to work 80% of their work week on task, and the remaining 20% on creative pursuits of their own choosing, so in that sense I would argue that google is fostering creativity (which probably ends up benefiting the company overall) while being less demanding of their employees' time in a traditional sense.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by sievert on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:25PM (#5162116)

The argument here is about quality of life. I suspect the reason you mention income is that you believe it is nessecary to be able to do things outside of work.

I personally earn more than I need to get by, and I'm sure as I get older and have more commitments I'll want to forgo money in exchange for time.

Also income (or at least productivity) and time spent at work is not a linear relationship. I think this is a great idea.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We should only work 25 hours a week, argues professor by zanny on Sunday February 03, 2013 @09:27PM (#5162124)

If I could make enough to eat, keep the lights on, and pay an internet bill, I'd be satiated.

Problem is that unless you go for contract work (which doesn't really translate into 25 hours a week), you won't get a 20 hour a week part time software development gig, even if it had a 35k salary attached. I much prefer working on the projects I want to than those that people are willing to pay me for.

[ Parent | on HN ]