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Ask HN: Where can I work a 30 hour week as a Software Engineer?

As I get more experienced, productive and earn more money the marginal utility of more income decreases but the utility of free time remains the same. Instead of chasing an ever higher salary, can I instead work less? My preference would be to 30 hour work week spread over 3 consecutive 10 hour days. I understand that the pay-cut to current schemes would be more than 25% due to benefit costs and other constant per-employee costs. Some of that pay-cut will however be offset with commutes from farther cheaper locales. Why aren’t employers offering such work schemes for professionals? And if they are, who are these companies?

miloshadzic 13y ago
You could start freelancing but I'm sure you already thought about that.
- StakhanovInNYC 13y ago
  Yes, that it is the most workable alternative right now. It doesn't come without a couple of downsides. The first downside is the lack of security. The second downside is the extra time you have to spend seeking out gigs and polishing up skills that are in demand right now; the extra time spend creep can be unbound and defeats the goal of working less. I believe those downsides are enough to rule out working freelance for me. Obviously they are workable for some people, because there are a lot of satisfied freelancers.
  - miloshadzic 13y ago
    If you do decide to try it. Build up a bit of buffer so you don't feel the need to get a god client on day one. The market right now is really good so it's a good time to check out how it works for you. Good luck in any case.
cromulent 13y ago
I think it's more effort for companies to manage it so in general they don't offer it. I have seen people negotiate a 4-day week, and take a 20% pay cut. In the end, their job didn't really change, so they were paid 20% less and either worked relatively harder than others for less pay, or underperformed relatively to others, so their career stalled and bonus was reduced.
gabrtv 13y ago
As a founder and employer of a small team I can tell you that this is more complicated than it may look from the employee side. Consider that health care costs, equipment costs, office space, etc.. don't go down by 20% even though your days/week did. Investing in people who will be _motivated_ is one of the most important things a company does. Besides freelancing, I think your best bet is taking a normal 40-50 hour/wk job, making yourself indispensable (which takes some time) and then negotiating a 4 day week with a commensurate salary cut. I've seen it done, but you really have to sell it to management and convince them your productivity won't decline (don't emphasize your side projects, etc).
jlengrand 13y ago
Our new employee works 4 days a week, for a 32 hours / week contract. I think it shouldn't be too difficult to find a company that accepts that. The more difficult part is the "3 days at 10 hours", IMHO. That sounds quite difficult to achieve on top of the 4 days a week thingy.
gregkerzhner 13y ago
I did this with my company. After working for 9 months I proposed to cut my hours to 32, with a 20% pay cut, and let me become the first remote employee. They liked me and thought I was a good enough worker not to say no. My advice would be to go for a small company where you can get to know everyone, prove your worth, and then propose a mutually agreeable deal.

miloshadzic 13y ago

You could start freelancing but I'm sure you already thought about that.

StakhanovInNYC 13y ago
Yes, that it is the most workable alternative right now. It doesn't come without a couple of downsides. The first downside is the lack of security. The second downside is the extra time you have to spend seeking out gigs and polishing up skills that are in demand right now; the extra time spend creep can be unbound and defeats the goal of working less. I believe those downsides are enough to rule out working freelance for me. Obviously they are workable for some people, because there are a lot of satisfied freelancers.
- miloshadzic 13y ago
  If you do decide to try it. Build up a bit of buffer so you don't feel the need to get a god client on day one. The market right now is really good so it's a good time to check out how it works for you. Good luck in any case.

cromulent 13y ago

I think it's more effort for companies to manage it so in general they don't offer it. I have seen people negotiate a 4-day week, and take a 20% pay cut. In the end, their job didn't really change, so they were paid 20% less and either worked relatively harder than others for less pay, or underperformed relatively to others, so their career stalled and bonus was reduced.

gabrtv 13y ago

As a founder and employer of a small team I can tell you that this is more complicated than it may look from the employee side. Consider that health care costs, equipment costs, office space, etc.. don't go down by 20% even though your days/week did. Investing in people who will be _motivated_ is one of the most important things a company does. Besides freelancing, I think your best bet is taking a normal 40-50 hour/wk job, making yourself indispensable (which takes some time) and then negotiating a 4 day week with a commensurate salary cut. I've seen it done, but you really have to sell it to management and convince them your productivity won't decline (don't emphasize your side projects, etc).

jlengrand 13y ago

Our new employee works 4 days a week, for a 32 hours / week contract. I think it shouldn't be too difficult to find a company that accepts that. The more difficult part is the "3 days at 10 hours", IMHO. That sounds quite difficult to achieve on top of the 4 days a week thingy.

gregkerzhner 13y ago

I did this with my company. After working for 9 months I proposed to cut my hours to 32, with a 20% pay cut, and let me become the first remote employee. They liked me and thought I was a good enough worker not to say no. My advice would be to go for a small company where you can get to know everyone, prove your worth, and then propose a mutually agreeable deal.