Taking a 20% pay cut has never been an issue for me and I doubt it’s an issue for most software engineers who are pulling six figures even at 80% their “full” s

Taking a 20% pay cut has never been an issue for me and I doubt it’s an issue for most software engineers who are pulling six figures even at 80% their “full” salary. The issue is getting a “manager” to agree to it. I would suppose the crux is that MiddleManager doesn’t give a shit about the company’s payroll expenses and would rather not have to explain to anyone else, higher up or otherwise, why I’m never at work on Fridays. I think people underestimate how shitty others are when they’re jealous and/or perceive someone as working “less” than they are. Coworkers will absolutely ruin an arrangement like you getting a 4-day workweek if they can, even if you’re making proportionally less money. So unfortunately it seems the buy-in must come from the C-level, where the IQ tends to be the lowest in an organization.