UK Four Day Work Week Experiment: Can It Work Here?

[blackhawk]

Worked at a place where they went to a four day week Wednesday through Saturday no one liked it several weeks later it was scrapped and we were back to five day work week.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Worked at a place where they went to a four day week Wednesday through Saturday no one liked it several weeks later it was scrapped and we were back to five day work week.

Now try Monday through thursday...

 

[Missouri_Mike]

It could just mean that a five man crew is missing a man everyday. That would be an organizational pain in the ass.

Yes, and having two foremen on the job? That’s never good.

 

[occupied]

And bunk. But okay.

The way it was presented as 20% doing 80% of work is not correct. Not sure it's applicable to every kind of workplace everywhere. It's more accurate to say that 80% of productivity is due to the efforts of 20% of the workforce but they can only do their job because the rest support their efforts. For instance the cleaning staff might not contribute directly to the bottom line but the garbage still needs to be dumped.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

The way it was presented as 20% doing 80% of work is not correct. Not sure it's applicable to every kind of workplace everywhere. It's more accurate to say that 80% of productivity is due to the efforts of 20% of the workforce but they can only do their job because the rest support their efforts. For instance the cleaning staff might not contribute directly to the bottom line but the garbage still needs to be dumped.

That's a pretty crappy way of looking at things, IMO

 

[Missouri_Mike]

Doesn't mean you have to double the crew sizes. In fact not even close.

However many you need to add to keep on schedule costs more. It increases the labor costs.

 

[occupied]

Yes, and having two foremen on the job? That’s never good.

Pretty sure that's why offices seem to have so much wasted time and effort. Too much dead weight in middle management.

 

[Aldo Raine]

However many you need to add to keep on schedule costs more. It increases the labor costs.

Not increasing labor all the time. 3 days a week you will have both crews working. 2 days a week you will not. May have to supplement with PT or temp help which will be less expensive and without benefits.

 

[occupied]

That's a pretty crappy way of looking at things, IMO

If you are unfamiliar with the concept it's worth looking at. The larger the group the more it approaches some 80/20 ratio. A good example is medical care. 20% consume 80% of resources. 20% of the population commit 80% of crimes. 20% of the population drink 80% of alcoholic beverages sold. Same ratio holds for drug use.

 

[Missouri_Mike]

Not increasing labor all the time. 3 days a week you will have both crews working. 2 days a week you will not. May have to supplement with PT or temp help which will be less expensive and without benefits.

You still have to finish the job on time or there are penalties. You can’t just take two days off the work week and not have it effect everything. PT and temps is all anyone will be.

 

[Missouri_Mike]

That's a pretty crappy way of looking at things, IMO

It’s not crappy it’s reality. Any random group of ten people will have 8 of them standing around until the other two tell them what to do. I learned that at 18. I got the foreman job, simply because when ours quit I just told the other guys what to do and they did it. People are sheep.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

If you are unfamiliar with the concept it's worth looking at. The larger the group the more it approaches some 80/20 ratio. A good example is medical care. 20% consume 80% of resources. 20% of the population commit 80% of crimes. 20% of the population drink 80% of alcoholic beverages sold. Same ratio holds for drug use.

Those are easier to believe.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

It’s not crappy it’s reality.

100% wrong. The janitor is as necessary as anyone in the company. He or she may be more easily replaced due to having a larger pool of candidates, but the janitor is just as necessary.

And yes, the janitor contributes to the bottom line.

 

[occupied]

Those are easier to believe.

It's because they are large groups. Trying apply the principal to a group of 10 people is just not going to work.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

It's because they are large groups. Trying apply the principal to a group of 10 people is just not going to work.

It won't work in a factory of 2000, either.

 

[Aldo Raine]

You still have to finish the job on time or there are penalties. You can’t just take two days off the work week and not have it effect everything. PT and temps is all anyone will be.

No it ain't that at all. 3 of those days are a full crew. If you needed job done faster it would go on overtime or hire more people or both. Same if job wasn't getting done on 40 hours/week.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

No it ain't that at all. 3 of those days are a full crew. If you needed job done faster it would go on overtime or hire more people or both. Same if job wasn't getting done on 40 hours/week.

Rhen hire more people. That's what we are going to do, if we go to 35 hour work weeks.

 

[Aldo Raine]

Rhen hire more people. That's what we are going to do, if we go to 35 hour work weeks.

AWESOME

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

AWESOME

Not an option?

 

[Anathema]

I currently work a 4 - 10 hour day (Mon-Thurs) schedule and have for a little over a decade. The only time I work a 5 - 8 hour day schedule is on holiday weeks (we can’t process a 10 hour holiday). Those 8 hour days feel like half days. I wouldn’t go back to the 5 day schedule ever, if I could help it