4 ms·

Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it.

by golergka 5y ago

stubish 5y ago
Heh. I did it too, as 'transition to retirement'. Liked it so much the transition bit didn't last too long.
wildrhythms 5y ago
You're getting shafted
version_five 5y ago
I'm quoting the GP: > Especially in industries that require deep thinking, the output doesn't necessarily scale with # of hours a worker puts in, not every hour is the same. I think 10 hours of highly productive work is much better than 40 hours of busy work. I absolutely agree with this, but I'm skeptical of a model that allows someone to come to work for only 10 hours and have those hours be the productive time. Especially for deep thinking work. My experience is that to push forward in work that requires creativity and deep thought, one needs to be immersed in it, while at the same time not pressured to come up with something on the spot. The immersion (often) requires a full time commitment to the work, even if some of that time is actually spent chatting with colleagues or wasting time on HN or whatever. Providing the needed freedom from pressure, but still enough pressure to get results, is a question of management, either personal or from good manager.
- tartoran 5y ago
  I so agree with your point but I don’t see this ever happening in a corp type of employment. Maybe in a tightknit smallish company, working alongside likeminded people that could be the norm.
AussieWog93 5y ago
> Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it. My last employer refused to even accept 4 days a week for 80%. Manager brought up how much the company had invested in training me as a grad (which, to be fair, they did), and that cutting my hours would have meant that investment had gone to waste. I now work for them 0 days a week. Funny how that works.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  I'll never understand that concept that certain management types think they can keep you perpetually under a feeling of obligation alone.
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    Knowing the manager, he was extremely devoted to his work, the company and the craft. He was just holding holding me to his own standards. I'm assuming this is a problem in a lot of organisations; the people who rise to the top are the ones who lean more towards work on the work-life balance scale.
    - etempleton 5y ago
      It can also just be an HR challenge in some organizations. It shouldn’t be, but sometimes organizations can get pretty rigid on how they define jobs and roles.
      - wincy 5y ago
        It is weird sometimes. Took me about ten recruiters reaching out before I finally found a company that was even willing to negotiate on vacation days. I have 23 vacation days a year, no thanks, I’m not going back to 15 until I work at your company for five years. Just accepted a new position with a 15% pay raise and 20 days, which when I do the math 23x=20x*1.15, which is funny because I came up with the number right on the spot and somehow did the math so I’d be getting equivalent monetary value benefits for my PTO.
        dnate 5y ago
        And I am here complaining about my 30 vacation days. Good to get some perspective sometimes.
    - balfirevic 5y ago
      > Knowing the manager, he was extremely devoted to his work, the company and the craft. He was just holding holding me to his own standards. He doesn't seem to have attained a high level of proficiency in the craft of people management and employee retention, though :)
SilverRed 5y ago
I'm sure mine would too but whenever I think about the trade, I'd rather have more money and work the full time. Then I can buy an investment property and relax on the gains on the land.
- falcolas 5y ago
  Just remember: having a “later” is not guaranteed. Too much can happen between now and then. My advice is to also enjoy the time you know you have: now. Even if it postpones the “later” for a bit.

Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it.

stubish 5y ago

Heh. I did it too, as 'transition to retirement'. Liked it so much the transition bit didn't last too long.

wildrhythms 5y ago

You're getting shafted

version_five 5y ago

I'm quoting the GP: > Especially in industries that require deep thinking, the output doesn't necessarily scale with # of hours a worker puts in, not every hour is the same. I think 10 hours of highly productive work is much better than 40 hours of busy work. I absolutely agree with this, but I'm skeptical of a model that allows someone to come to work for only 10 hours and have those hours be the productive time. Especially for deep thinking work. My experience is that to push forward in work that requires creativity and deep thought, one needs to be immersed in it, while at the same time not pressured to come up with something on the spot. The immersion (often) requires a full time commitment to the work, even if some of that time is actually spent chatting with colleagues or wasting time on HN or whatever. Providing the needed freedom from pressure, but still enough pressure to get results, is a question of management, either personal or from good manager.

tartoran 5y ago
I so agree with your point but I don’t see this ever happening in a corp type of employment. Maybe in a tightknit smallish company, working alongside likeminded people that could be the norm.

AussieWog93 5y ago

> Many companies would agree if you offered them to work 3 days a week for 60% of your salary. I've done it. My last employer refused to even accept 4 days a week for 80%. Manager brought up how much the company had invested in training me as a grad (which, to be fair, they did), and that cutting my hours would have meant that investment had gone to waste. I now work for them 0 days a week. Funny how that works.

MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
I'll never understand that concept that certain management types think they can keep you perpetually under a feeling of obligation alone.
- AussieWog93 5y ago
  Knowing the manager, he was extremely devoted to his work, the company and the craft. He was just holding holding me to his own standards. I'm assuming this is a problem in a lot of organisations; the people who rise to the top are the ones who lean more towards work on the work-life balance scale.
  - etempleton 5y ago
    It can also just be an HR challenge in some organizations. It shouldn’t be, but sometimes organizations can get pretty rigid on how they define jobs and roles.
    - wincy 5y ago
      It is weird sometimes. Took me about ten recruiters reaching out before I finally found a company that was even willing to negotiate on vacation days. I have 23 vacation days a year, no thanks, I’m not going back to 15 until I work at your company for five years. Just accepted a new position with a 15% pay raise and 20 days, which when I do the math 23x=20x*1.15, which is funny because I came up with the number right on the spot and somehow did the math so I’d be getting equivalent monetary value benefits for my PTO.
      - dnate 5y ago
        And I am here complaining about my 30 vacation days. Good to get some perspective sometimes.
  - balfirevic 5y ago
    > Knowing the manager, he was extremely devoted to his work, the company and the craft. He was just holding holding me to his own standards. He doesn't seem to have attained a high level of proficiency in the craft of people management and employee retention, though :)

SilverRed 5y ago

I'm sure mine would too but whenever I think about the trade, I'd rather have more money and work the full time. Then I can buy an investment property and relax on the gains on the land.

falcolas 5y ago
Just remember: having a “later” is not guaranteed. Too much can happen between now and then. My advice is to also enjoy the time you know you have: now. Even if it postpones the “later” for a bit.