Finland’s Prime Minister Calls for Debate on 4-Day Work Week | Hacker News Reader

Finland’s Prime Minister Calls for Debate on 4-Day Work Week

bloomberg.com

48 pointsdsgerard22 comments

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21938696

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21973638

Misleading headline. In the article she did not "call for a debate" on it. She was asked about it and said it's not in the current plans

'“Until now, the trend has been toward shorter working hours as productivity has increased,” she told reporters in Harpsund, Sweden. “I believe that in the future, though not in the next few years, the development will be similar: improvements in productivity and technology should show up as improvements in the conditions for ordinary workers, including shorter working hours.”

The Finnish government isn’t currently working on a four-day week, she said.'

Actually the title is correct, she said the matter should be able to be discussed, and should be discussed. That qualifies as calling for a debate. Not what the previous clickbait articles said, this one is absolutely correct.

Source: https://twitter.com/MarinSanna/status/1163372847894544384

Yeah, there's been very little in the Finnish news about this. It's not really a current topic.

Let me just leave this here before the headline-readers start to scrutinize a "phantom decision".

- https://newsnowfinland.fi/politics/how-finlands-fake-four-da...

Thirty-Hour work week was on the political agenda in the US in the 1930s. It's about time.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20086446

Nixon of all people talked about it in 1956: https://www.nytimes.com/1956/09/23/archives/nixon-foresees-4...

The IWW was campaigning for a 4-hour day and 4 days a week in the 30's as well.

And people can still join the IWW today.

Core Wobbly demand from 1905 on, really.

Here's a prediction. If we reduce the work week to 3 days, or to 20-24 hours, economic forces and the hedonic treadmill will push people to have 2 jobs just to keep up.

I feel it is sensible in multiple ways:

1) People should reap benefit of automation. 2) Less urge to generate bullshit work to fill in 40+ hours. 3) Could force employers to think of more equalized distribution of work. So a few more people can get a job and overworked people can get some leisure.

I worked a strict 35 hour week in Germany for a while and I think this was the most productive environment I have ever worked in. People had energy to actually work during working hours and management didn’t waste any time with indecision. And we managed to be the world market leader in our industry with a 35 hour week.

The real problem is that another country with lesser ethics will work their workers into the ground and out-compete your country in terms of productivity. Then, they'll get to effectively make all the labor rules because they'll have so much more money and can leech your workers away for higher salaries.

The real solution here is to prevent worker-leeching but that seems incredible draconian (and you'd have to get every single country to agree to it).

I fail to see how this is a distinct concern from existing outsourcing value propositions.

Wait, the fake news is now real news?

https://newsnowfinland.fi/politics/how-finlands-fake-four-da...

I am generally in favour of this idea, though it's a difficult topic. I found this discussion interesting, which brings up several pros and cons: https://www.kialo.com/should-developed-countries-reduce-the-...

It's surprising to see so many on HN agree with a 4 work week. As a programmer, I will definitely get more done in a 5 day week than in a 4 day week.

I assume manufacturing jobs will need to be 5 days or America will be even less competitive and the same for service jobs, gigs.

I wonder what jobs will actually benefit from a four day work week.

Sure, I will get more done in five than four days. I also get more done in six or seven days per week over five, but with diminishing returns and more and more impact on my non-work life.

As a programmer I have the luxury of willingly taking a pay cut to have an additional day off per week if I want to and usually in a position to negotiate for it.

I don't know the Finnish economical situation well enough of how feasible a four day week would be short term. But I don't see much difference to reductions of work hours/days in the past.

call me a millennial but a 4 day work week does not sound crazy. sounds like thats where we should be heading.

Wish we had younger representation in government in the US like this

That’s what freaks me out about the last presidential elections. Seems the number one requirement to be a front runner is to be at least 70 at Election Day. Ideally even 80 as the democrats seem to be willing to demonstrate.

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