Tech advances should make 4-day workweek a reality for the 21st century

cnbc.com

31 points·doener··8 comments

At least in the United States, I see exactly 0 chance of this happening in the current cultural and regulatory system we operate under. The average American worker is just lucky that they even get 2 days off during the week at this point.

If I found a political candidate who advocated for mandatory vacation of 4 weeks or more per year, and/or less work-hours per week, I'd give them my vote in a heartbeat. A change of that magnitude for the average worker would reap incredible social benefits for all of us.

Mandatory limits on working hours would suck for anyone who enjoys their job though.

Is your argument: "If you enjoy your job, you want to do it all the time, and less job == less enjoyment"?

If it is, may I humbly suggest that scarcity does not reduce enjoyment, and that looking forward to something can actually increase your enjoyment of it when you do get to do it.

My "argument" is simply that people should be free to do what they want

So thinking past the sale for a minute, which day (assuming US Monday - Friday) would you make an off day?

Friday? Give the phrase TGIF some bite? Friday, Are You In Love?

Monday? Like Bob Geldof, do you dislike Mondays? Do Rainy Days and Mondays bring you down? Making Monday an off day might wreck a huge part of pop culture.

Wednesday? Why not? 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off?

Tech advances are likely to make for a zero day work week for many people. How they survive seems open for debate and unique implementation in every nation.

You can make it 1-day workweek in any 1st world place right now, you only need to convince the people to lower their living standards by a factor of 5x.

Automation doesn’t take days off, and is responsible for most of our productivity gains.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com