5 ms·

Forget 'quiet quitting': High-income men are openly cutting their work hours

32 points by rustoo 4y ago

olliej 4y ago
Just to recall these "openly cut work hours" are already unpaid. This is just another pro-business publication that is trying to make it sound like employees are the problem: "quiet quitting" a phrase only use to shit on people who aren't doing free and unpaid labour, similarly here the implication of "openly cutting their work hours" is that they aren't working all the hours they are being paid when, as the article reluctantly admits, they are working for far longer than the hours they are paid, and even with a reduction in volunteer time they are working longer than they're paid.
- hindsightbias 4y ago
  I should send my boss a Who Is John Galt bumper sticker.
- fzeroracer 4y ago
  This is part of the reason why I think companies are in for a bad time trying to cargo cult layoffs. Productivity is going down because people are tired of working long hours for the same pay and even if a bunch of people are forced into the market they'll need to hire more people to hit the same targets.
jasonkester 4y ago
I’ve found working as a contractor helps a lot with this sort of thing. You’re already billing an hourly rate and sending invoices. There are no benefits, sick leave or vacation time that need to be pro rated. And somewhere in the agreement there is probably a clause stating that you’ll schedule your own time (so that you don’t accidentally get classified as an employee). In short, there are less complications to act as barrier to being able to drop your hours, and the company has fewer options to push back if they don’t like the idea. Definitely do it, by the way. I’ve been doing 2-3 day weeks for a couple years now and it’s fantastic. I can pick and choose which days to clock in based on things like whether it’s sunny out or whether my brain is working well enough to charge for, or whether I just feel like doing something else that day. So long as the work gets done, there’s no reason to be at the desk 5 days in a row.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- herbst 4y ago
  My income is mostly passive, about 2-3 hours per week is actual work but not time critical, I can also do 4 hours the next week. I only work when my brain feels ready for it. And honestly sometimes that is not very often. However i still regularly get done more in 2 days as in an 40 hour job. If I have an idea I want to focus on I do that. I may code away for 2 weeks without many breaks until I trash the project or stash it away. Sometimes productive, sometimes just wasting time and learning things. I could not imagine a better working model (for myself). And I really hope more people get the enjoy the freedom of more time in future, there won't be enough jobs anyway once we are done automating everything.
- yieldcrv 4y ago
  salaried people are also doing 2-3 days of work each week, but are getting paid as if doing 5
  - PenguinCoder 4y ago
    Yeah but don't tell that to management. If they end up reducing the work hours they'll reduce the pay too. Because "you're working less". But not really; I'm working probably the same amount, but now I don't have to pretend to be working for 40 hours.
  - jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 4y ago
    The downside is you are still chained to your desk / Slack whether you are actually getting any work done. Sounds like OP doesn't have to pretend to be working.
zeruch 4y ago
AKA: people are tired of working endless overtime that is not legally required but employers have squeezed out while diminishing perks, benefits, etc. What utter bollocks.
sorrydang230201 4y ago
> Work is a reflection of social status, and a lack of pay mobility reflects poorly on that status and marriageability, many men feel, the Boston Fed concluded. Yep, combine this with the decreasing numbers of marriageable women (weight, age, kids etc.) , and you get a perfect storm.
- sw104 4y ago
  I'm sure women could say the same of men.
  - anthony_d 4y ago
    And they would be right too. I’m not a doom and gloom/end days kind of guy, but there is no reason to believe society and cultures always improve.
freilanzer 4y ago
Good. Life doesn't just consist of working, no matter what employers are telling us. 4 day work weeks should be the norm - and no, not 4x10 hours, rather 4x8 hours max.
apercu 4y ago
I started doing this in 2015. I had to quit my job and go back to consulting. I found that somewhere around 12-20 hours per week of knowledge work was peak efficiency (output versus effort). Unfortunately, from 2020 to now, I have had to work closer to full time and I'm less fit, less efficient, suffering from poorer sleep. I am hoping to get back to ~15 hours a week by mid-year this year.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
iancmceachern 4y ago
One of the greatest freedoms in life is the ability to say no, to choose what we spend our time on.

32 points by rustoo 4y ago

Just to recall these "openly cut work hours" are already unpaid. This is just another pro-business publication that is trying to make it sound like employees are the problem: "quiet quitting" a phrase only use to shit on people who aren't doing free and unpaid labour, similarly here the implication of "openly cutting their work hours" is that they aren't working all the hours they are being paid when, as the article reluctantly admits, they are working for far longer than the hours they are paid, and even with a reduction in volunteer time they are working longer than they're paid.

hindsightbias 4y ago
I should send my boss a Who Is John Galt bumper sticker.
fzeroracer 4y ago
This is part of the reason why I think companies are in for a bad time trying to cargo cult layoffs. Productivity is going down because people are tired of working long hours for the same pay and even if a bunch of people are forced into the market they'll need to hire more people to hit the same targets.

jasonkester 4y ago

I’ve found working as a contractor helps a lot with this sort of thing. You’re already billing an hourly rate and sending invoices. There are no benefits, sick leave or vacation time that need to be pro rated. And somewhere in the agreement there is probably a clause stating that you’ll schedule your own time (so that you don’t accidentally get classified as an employee). In short, there are less complications to act as barrier to being able to drop your hours, and the company has fewer options to push back if they don’t like the idea. Definitely do it, by the way. I’ve been doing 2-3 day weeks for a couple years now and it’s fantastic. I can pick and choose which days to clock in based on things like whether it’s sunny out or whether my brain is working well enough to charge for, or whether I just feel like doing something else that day. So long as the work gets done, there’s no reason to be at the desk 5 days in a row.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
herbst 4y ago
My income is mostly passive, about 2-3 hours per week is actual work but not time critical, I can also do 4 hours the next week. I only work when my brain feels ready for it. And honestly sometimes that is not very often. However i still regularly get done more in 2 days as in an 40 hour job. If I have an idea I want to focus on I do that. I may code away for 2 weeks without many breaks until I trash the project or stash it away. Sometimes productive, sometimes just wasting time and learning things. I could not imagine a better working model (for myself). And I really hope more people get the enjoy the freedom of more time in future, there won't be enough jobs anyway once we are done automating everything.
yieldcrv 4y ago
salaried people are also doing 2-3 days of work each week, but are getting paid as if doing 5
- PenguinCoder 4y ago
  Yeah but don't tell that to management. If they end up reducing the work hours they'll reduce the pay too. Because "you're working less". But not really; I'm working probably the same amount, but now I don't have to pretend to be working for 40 hours.
- jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 4y ago
  The downside is you are still chained to your desk / Slack whether you are actually getting any work done. Sounds like OP doesn't have to pretend to be working.

zeruch 4y ago

AKA: people are tired of working endless overtime that is not legally required but employers have squeezed out while diminishing perks, benefits, etc. What utter bollocks.

sorrydang230201 4y ago

> Work is a reflection of social status, and a lack of pay mobility reflects poorly on that status and marriageability, many men feel, the Boston Fed concluded. Yep, combine this with the decreasing numbers of marriageable women (weight, age, kids etc.) , and you get a perfect storm.

sw104 4y ago
I'm sure women could say the same of men.
- anthony_d 4y ago
  And they would be right too. I’m not a doom and gloom/end days kind of guy, but there is no reason to believe society and cultures always improve.

freilanzer 4y ago

Good. Life doesn't just consist of working, no matter what employers are telling us. 4 day work weeks should be the norm - and no, not 4x10 hours, rather 4x8 hours max.

apercu 4y ago

I started doing this in 2015. I had to quit my job and go back to consulting. I found that somewhere around 12-20 hours per week of knowledge work was peak efficiency (output versus effort). Unfortunately, from 2020 to now, I have had to work closer to full time and I'm less fit, less efficient, suffering from poorer sleep. I am hoping to get back to ~15 hours a week by mid-year this year.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

iancmceachern 4y ago

One of the greatest freedoms in life is the ability to say no, to choose what we spend our time on.