I really need to go look up these work studies on the 32 hour work week. I fully believe that a 32 hour work week in an office setting may boost productivity… But since I work in construction, a 32 hour work week doesn’t seem like it would speed anything up on my end. The work generally just takes time. I can only measure, cut, attach, and repeat at a certain speed, and no amount of rest is going to speed that up.
I worked in an excavating company for a bit. One old crochety guy worked 12 hours every day running an excavator. A younger guy who had stake in the company (also drove an excavator), who never worked more than 8 in a day, looked at him and said: “Why do you only get half as much done, but it takes you twice as long?”
The young guy wasn’t wrong. Being tired does slow you down. But yeah, a four day work week in construction, might slow the project down a bit. But they should just hire more people. And on top of that 6 hour days with additional staff would make the work go a lot faster.
This is why I’d like to read the actual studies. I can only speak on my own anecdotal evidence of 8 hours 5 days a week isn’t draining on me to an extent that I’d actually notice an increase in productivity if I were to only work 4.
That’s what I thought until I got a union job that did 4 10 hour shifts a week. The work days didn’t feel much longer, but that 3rd day off a week made it possible to plan short trips any weekend I wanted without needing to take time off work. It also did wonders for my mental health to have a day off every week where I wasn’t recovering from, or thinking about going back to work.
Working 4-10s is good stuff when the job allows. It also does increase productivity in many ways, mostly due to less overall time setting up. Definitely a win-win.
From the few studies I’ve seen headlines for, and a lot of the stuff over in work reform, the topic is usually about 32 hour work weeks.
Is there even enough of a supply of people to just add more people? I’m with you, I’m just skeptical about the logistics of how many people are available that have an interest and skills in (or desire to learn) those trades that aren’t already employed in them.
I really need to go look up these work studies on the 32 hour work week. I fully believe that a 32 hour work week in an office setting may boost productivity… But since I work in construction, a 32 hour work week doesn’t seem like it would speed anything up on my end. The work generally just takes time. I can only measure, cut, attach, and repeat at a certain speed, and no amount of rest is going to speed that up.
I worked in an excavating company for a bit. One old crochety guy worked 12 hours every day running an excavator. A younger guy who had stake in the company (also drove an excavator), who never worked more than 8 in a day, looked at him and said: “Why do you only get half as much done, but it takes you twice as long?”
The young guy wasn’t wrong. Being tired does slow you down. But yeah, a four day work week in construction, might slow the project down a bit. But they should just hire more people. And on top of that 6 hour days with additional staff would make the work go a lot faster.
This is why I’d like to read the actual studies. I can only speak on my own anecdotal evidence of 8 hours 5 days a week isn’t draining on me to an extent that I’d actually notice an increase in productivity if I were to only work 4.
That’s what I thought until I got a union job that did 4 10 hour shifts a week. The work days didn’t feel much longer, but that 3rd day off a week made it possible to plan short trips any weekend I wanted without needing to take time off work. It also did wonders for my mental health to have a day off every week where I wasn’t recovering from, or thinking about going back to work.
Working 4-10s is good stuff when the job allows. It also does increase productivity in many ways, mostly due to less overall time setting up. Definitely a win-win.
From the few studies I’ve seen headlines for, and a lot of the stuff over in work reform, the topic is usually about 32 hour work weeks.
Is there even enough of a supply of people to just add more people? I’m with you, I’m just skeptical about the logistics of how many people are available that have an interest and skills in (or desire to learn) those trades that aren’t already employed in them.
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