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Why cant things be more flexible, eg. you have a 7 day workweek but personally you only work 4 days? This seems like a good idea especially given more automati

Why cant things be more flexible, eg. you have a 7 day workweek but personally you only work 4 days? This seems like a good idea especially given more automation and more higher level jobs.

krapp 8y ago
Because most jobs require correlation of schedules between roles, or suppliers and vendors, a minimum viable number of staff, or deadlines which need to be met. A cashier, for instance, can't simply decide not to come in to work for half the week, or to only work overnight when it's easier. Everyone would do that, and the business would lose money. >This seems like a good idea especially given more automation and more higher level jobs. Automation means fewer jobs and less flexibility, not the opposite. The more work machines do, the less value human labor has, the harder employers have to squeeze their employees to even make a profit from them. One just has to look at a company like Amazon to see how that trend leads.
- jrockway 8y ago
  But many don't. Many things are planned on the scale of quarters, not hours. In that case, it doesn't actually matter what hours people work, as long as things are done by the deadline. I've certainly worked for companies where other companies contracted out their software development tasks to us. They did not care what hours we worked; they spent their money and expected a result X months later. Whether we worked on their project from 9-5 was something they would not even know, much less care about.
MrEfficiency 8y ago
I have this mentality. Sure M-F, 9-5, most work gets done, but there are times where nothing is happening at 4PM and there are times that I'm needed Saturday morning. The future will be defined by roles at big companies rather than hours of attendance.
SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
I could hide from the clients for weeks! Weeks I say! "Oh, sorry, our schedules really only overlap for a day and I'm booked solid. How about next month?"

Why cant things be more flexible, eg. you have a 7 day workweek but personally you only work 4 days? This seems like a good idea especially given more automation and more higher level jobs.

krapp 8y ago

Because most jobs require correlation of schedules between roles, or suppliers and vendors, a minimum viable number of staff, or deadlines which need to be met. A cashier, for instance, can't simply decide not to come in to work for half the week, or to only work overnight when it's easier. Everyone would do that, and the business would lose money. >This seems like a good idea especially given more automation and more higher level jobs. Automation means fewer jobs and less flexibility, not the opposite. The more work machines do, the less value human labor has, the harder employers have to squeeze their employees to even make a profit from them. One just has to look at a company like Amazon to see how that trend leads.

jrockway 8y ago
But many don't. Many things are planned on the scale of quarters, not hours. In that case, it doesn't actually matter what hours people work, as long as things are done by the deadline. I've certainly worked for companies where other companies contracted out their software development tasks to us. They did not care what hours we worked; they spent their money and expected a result X months later. Whether we worked on their project from 9-5 was something they would not even know, much less care about.

MrEfficiency 8y ago

I have this mentality. Sure M-F, 9-5, most work gets done, but there are times where nothing is happening at 4PM and there are times that I'm needed Saturday morning. The future will be defined by roles at big companies rather than hours of attendance.

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago

I could hide from the clients for weeks! Weeks I say! "Oh, sorry, our schedules really only overlap for a day and I'm booked solid. How about next month?"