4 ms·
Ask HN: Would you trade a 20 percent raise for an extra day off?
Just curious how common it is to trade money for time.
- sudsred 7y agoHad a colleague propose this today. And it seemed like a very fair thing to trade 20 percent of your income for an extra day a week. Opens up time for exercise, open source work, family and research. I'm curious if people have tried this and how receptive organisations are to such proposals.
- sushid 7y agoDolby gets every other Friday off AFAIK.
- byoung2 7y agoYou should make this a poll: https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll But to answer your question, I would be tempted to take an extra day off but in the end I would not, and here's why. An extra day off disappears when you move to the next company (you: I worked a 4 day week at my last job, them: we don't do that here), but the salary typically forms a floor for negotiating the next salary (you: I made $180k at my last job, them: we can match or beat that). With the extra salary you could take extra unpaid vacation days to effectively get your extra day off and get the raise at the same time.
- vageli 7y ago> You should make this a poll: https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll > But to answer your question, I would be tempted to take an extra day off but in the end I would not, and here's why. An extra day off disappears when you move to the next company (you: I worked a 4 day week at my last job, them: we don't do that here), but the salary typically forms a floor for negotiating the next salary (you: I made $180k at my last job, them: we can match or beat that). With the extra salary you could take extra unpaid vacation days to effectively get your extra day off and get the raise at the same time. How does your new employer know your previous salary without you telling them? And on the other end, why wouldn't you price intangibles into your salary when negotiating?
- rajaratnmc 7y agoIt's terrific actually. I would trade 50% for 2 extra days off to get some quality time for my passion project. Sounds great. :)
- popei13 7y agoI think it's an interesting trade only if you keep the same value of your time: having a 20% raise vs getting every Friday off (20% of your week). At the end each day has same value. It's also depends what you are looking for, having a 20% raise might not change your lifestyle that much, where having extra day a week off can, especially if you have family.
- WheelsAtLarge 7y agoYes, but I would have to make sure it doesn't become a day to watch videos and sleep. It's very easy to do nothing and waste the opportunity.
- seansta 7y agoThe short answer is Yes so long as ppl don't have to work longer hours on 4 working days.
- tiredwired 7y agoStakeholders don't care. You still have to get X amount of work down by Y date. You should take all the money you can get. Would you trade a 40% raise for 2 days off?
- airbreather 7y agoDepends on tax, where I am it is only a 10% reduction in take home, so could be a reasonable trade-off. Even better, do 4x9 hr days (nominal compared to 5x8), take 5th one off and only lose 5% take home, who wouldn't do that?
- probinso 7y ago20% more vacation, then yes