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> Utah abandoned the experiment in 2011 after residents complained they were unable to access services on Fridays. This is part of the problem I think. I've wo

by imgabe 10y ago

> Utah abandoned the experiment in 2011 after residents complained they were unable to access services on Fridays. This is part of the problem I think. I've worked 4-day weeks in the past and one of the best things about it is you have a free day during the week to do all the things you normally can't get to. Go to the doctor, visit other business or government offices that are normally only open while you're at work. Of course if everyone does a 4-day week, then you lose that benefit. Then you have to cram all those errands into the 4 days, during which you now also have more work to do. Instead of "everybody take Friday off". It might make more sense to stagger days off so everyone has a chance to have a day off while things they need are open.

overcast 10y ago
Well service roles get screwed no matter what. Irrelevant of standard work weeks. Restaurants/hospitals/retail are already open all week regardless. What people are arguing is all the white collar jobs that feed back into the service jobs.
- Declanomous 10y ago
  I personally think the issue is that we have defined Saturday and Sunday as the weekend. I worked retail, and I loved having Saturday as my "Friday", and Sunday and Monday as my weekend, because services had normal hours on Monday, and I could relax on Sunday. The downside at the time was that my schedule often didn't overlap with that of my friends, such as those who worked as servers in restaurants. I find three day weekends to be much more relaxing than the standard weekend. It means I can spend time with my friends on one day, do chores on another day, and spend the remaining day relaxing. As long as I still have a day I can spend with my friends, I'd be okay with a different schedule than M-F or M-R. There is a barrier to a shorter workweek I don't see touched on often, and maybe it's just me. I'm hesitant to work less because I'm afraid that people would find out that I'm just not that necessary around the office, and that the work I do isn't important as I think it is. Realistically, I think such a realization would be more damaging to my personal pride than anything else. I think I base too much of my self-worth on how replaceable I am to my organization. It's a bit ridiculous to seek validation from an organization, but it is one reason why I'd be hesitant to have a day off while other people are working.
sfifs 10y ago
In India in many cities, shops take their weekly offs staggered locality by locality. So if you need to say buy groceries or medicines on a day your local locality's shops are off, you just go to the next one. Also, most shops stay open till 9pm or later. When we travel in Europe, we find it incomprehensible that businesses are so customer unfriendly - everyone shuts shop by 5pm and very few are open over the weekend.

by imgabe 10y ago

overcast 10y ago

Well service roles get screwed no matter what. Irrelevant of standard work weeks. Restaurants/hospitals/retail are already open all week regardless. What people are arguing is all the white collar jobs that feed back into the service jobs.

Declanomous 10y ago
I personally think the issue is that we have defined Saturday and Sunday as the weekend. I worked retail, and I loved having Saturday as my "Friday", and Sunday and Monday as my weekend, because services had normal hours on Monday, and I could relax on Sunday. The downside at the time was that my schedule often didn't overlap with that of my friends, such as those who worked as servers in restaurants. I find three day weekends to be much more relaxing than the standard weekend. It means I can spend time with my friends on one day, do chores on another day, and spend the remaining day relaxing. As long as I still have a day I can spend with my friends, I'd be okay with a different schedule than M-F or M-R. There is a barrier to a shorter workweek I don't see touched on often, and maybe it's just me. I'm hesitant to work less because I'm afraid that people would find out that I'm just not that necessary around the office, and that the work I do isn't important as I think it is. Realistically, I think such a realization would be more damaging to my personal pride than anything else. I think I base too much of my self-worth on how replaceable I am to my organization. It's a bit ridiculous to seek validation from an organization, but it is one reason why I'd be hesitant to have a day off while other people are working.

sfifs 10y ago

In India in many cities, shops take their weekly offs staggered locality by locality. So if you need to say buy groceries or medicines on a day your local locality's shops are off, you just go to the next one. Also, most shops stay open till 9pm or later. When we travel in Europe, we find it incomprehensible that businesses are so customer unfriendly - everyone shuts shop by 5pm and very few are open over the weekend.