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Comment by philmcp | Hacker News Reader

In years to come we will look down on current working conditions in the same way we currently do with 15hr factory shifts during the industrial revolution.

As a step in the right direction, I believe that most jobs should be offered on either 4 days (80% salary) or 5 day (100% salary) contracts.

On this topic, I recently built https://4dayweek.io - Software Jobs with a better work / life balance

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> In years to come we will look down on current working conditions in the same way we currently do with 15hr factory shifts during the industrial revolution.

Absolutely agreed. Working for someone else for 8 of the best hours of the day (if you're lucky, and not pressured into 9 or 10 hours), plus the surrounding 1 hour on either side to get ready/commute, for 5/7 of the days of the week, is no way to live.

> most jobs should be offered on either 4 days (80% salary)

Woah, hang on. Are we currently working at 50% pay compared to those 15-hour factory days? No. So how does it follow that a further reduction to 4 days should merit a pay cut? Our target should be 4 or even 3 days at 100% pay. Productivity has skyrocketed and wages have stagnated[0]. We deserve fair compensation for our labor, don't be so eager to discount it.

[0]: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

I'm totally with you, although if I'm being honest I think the fairer amount would be 90-95% of salary for 4 days.

The only reason I'm pushing for 4 days (80% salary) or 5 days (100% salary) is to try and get companies on board. Working a 4 day week is still a taboo topic to most c-suites - I think a small reduction in salary would be a good "first step" towards normalising the 4 day week @ ~100% salary.

For imported labor or those workaholic types, how would you keep those choosing less work competitive? Why would a company not hire someone willing to work full time? I’d love to work 3-4 days a week but without mandates I see us ending right back where we are. In short, greed will ruin this idea if it’s left as optional.

Such agreements are common in Switzerland, for example. I'm in the US where you can imagine it's harder for a US company to make the math work due to ponying up for health care costs per salaried employee. Anyone care to weigh in from companies where this is commonplace?

The average employer contribution to health insurance was around $5,500 in 2019. [0] I wouldn't think that reducing cash compensation by 20% + ~$1,100/year instead of just a flat 20% would be a huge deal for US tech workers.

[0] https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/single-coverage/

I kinda do this, but with a slightly different schedule: 7 hour days Monday to Thursday, on Fridays I alternate between 8 hour day and no work. This sums up to 80%.

I’ve done something like this before, 9 hours M-F but every other Friday off. It gets difficult if the schedule varies (as in the entire company doesn’t shut down on off fridays) or if you have to deal with another company not on this same schedule. It’s very nice having every other friday off though.

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