Could a 4 hour work week work ?

Hopefull said:
Good jobs are available in the U.S. right now. People are having a hard time finding anyone who wants to work. My boys make good money and get all the hours they want. My girls have good paying office jobs too. Help wanted signs every where but nobody wants the work I guess.
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I just noticed the title of this thread is Could a 4 hour work week work? I was posting a 4 hour day. Regardless,

Here's what I see around the SF Bay Area. Even if 4 hour day or 4 hour week does exist, there are many who just don't want to work and the government out here will let them sign up for handouts like free rent, food, pocket allowance, covid relief or post traumatic covid, sad but true.
 
bobinfaith said:
I just noticed the title of this thread is Could a 4 hour work week work? I was posting a 4 hour day. Regardless,

Here's what I see around the SF Bay Area. Even if 4 hour day or 4 hour week does exist, there are many who just don't want to work and the government out here will let them sign up for handouts like free rent, food, pocket allowance, covid relief or post traumatic covid, sad but true.
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Yes. Some are happy to just get by. My late wife and myself wanted to do a bit better than that.
 
bobinfaith said:
Here's what I see around the SF Bay Area. Even if 4 hour day or 4 hour week does exist, there are many who just don't want to work and the government out here will let them sign up for handouts like free rent, food, pocket allowance, covid relief or post traumatic covid, sad but true.
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we see it around here .in city 30 miles from us poplar bluff at many stoplights there is a person or person holding a sign homeless. i been told they can bring in $500.00 a day . i spoke to one about getting a job told him several was hiring .what's amazing for homeless they had nice winter jackets what i could see good jeans
 
rtm3039 said:
I am unsure that working only four hours a day is going to work (pun intended). Also, the idea that everything would eventually be "free" is not even close to realistic.

It appears to me that the US places too much stress on how long people work or where they do their work from. In law enforcement, many departments use what is called a "4/3 split." The workday is 10 hours (10*4=40) and you get three days off. That allows for better work/home balance. It also allows for twice as many cops on the road during high incident times (with three shifts, there is a two hour overlap).

After the COVID thing, I really thought we would embrace the idea of teleworking better. It does not appear to be the case. The work my office does does not really require going to an office. The problem is that many people are not disciplined enough to pull this off. Aside from my 8-hour day, I have to add around 2.5 hours of travel to and from the office. On the days when I do decide to work from home, those 2.5 hours are spent doing work.

The problem with this is that some of my people would (and have) taken advantage of this freedom to not do anything. Some also just do not have the home infrastructure to get their jobs done (poor internet, no copier or scanner, etc) from home.

Some of this is just poor work ethics. Cell phones are a good example. We do not get issued work cell phone and use our own. People complain about this, despite the fact that we incur no additional expense for using our phones. How silly is that?

I really do not have a good answer to this problem, but I wish someone would find one.

Rtm
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It is Realistic Bob.........if the country continues to move toward "Socialism".
 
Lanolin said:
thats the difference between those that earn by the hour (jobs or gigs) and those that earn a salary that get paid for the whole year/per annum. It doesn't matter to the salary earners how long a job takes, but it very much matters to a wage earner.
Sometimes there are not enough hours to do a good job as the employer will not pay for extra hours. Or they won't countenance paying more for part time hours so people get stuck in full time work and get exhausted. Then they over stretch people. If you can get the work done faster, it would be good but then you might cut corners.

Anyway...slavery anyone. A slave came cheap, you just bought a slave, and then they could work for you round the clock instead of fixed hours. Don't need a home life or family. Give up everything to work for their master. Maybe the master would feed the slave crumbs, if at all.
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"... so people get stuck in full time work and get exhausted."

Isn't it the point to get a full-time job?

PS. For the record, my work day started at 5:33 AM today. It is now 7:41 PM. took a supper break and going back at it for a couple of hours.
 
Lanolin said:
thats the difference between those that earn by the hour (jobs or gigs) and those that earn a salary that get paid for the whole year/per annum. It doesn't matter to the salary earners how long a job takes, but it very much matters to a wage earner. Sometimes there are not enough hours to do a good job as the employer will not pay for extra hours. Or they won't countenance paying more for part time hours so people get stuck in full time work and get exhausted. Then they over stretch people. If you can get the work done faster, it would be good but then you might cut corners. Anyway...slavery anyone. A slave came cheap, you just bought a slave, and then they could work for you round the clock instead of fixed hours. Don't need a home life or family. Give up everything to work for their master. Maybe the master would feed the slave crumbs, if at all.
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What Lanolin is sharing goes to show that work hours, hourly or salary comes in all kinds of different scenarios, companies and work schedule of the company. I believe work schedules are fair or not fair depending on the company one works for.

Early in my work career I started as hourly and worked 40 hours a week, and overtime when the job required and authorized it. If, in my work experience I didn't get the job done and overtime was not authorized, I came back the next morning and continued on. The boss determined if I was or not getting the job done to meet the time schedule of the company.

Halfway in my career I became salaried non exempt which meant I worked a base salary of 40 hours but still got paid overtime when needed by the company.

Toward the last 10 years of my career I worked salaried exempt which meant I worked a salary base of 40 hours but didn't get paid for overtime. like Ray's work. There were many times I worked overtime but it was at my discretion when I decided to call it a day as long as I met the time schedule and completed my work for the company.

After 43 years of working full time, I learned a hard lesson because I worked in a career I never really liked. It was my fault and my choice to choose the field I did, but I am grateful it was the Lord who sustained me, He kept me working and I earned a good salary.
 
bobinfaith said:
What Lanolin is sharing goes to show that work hours, hourly or salary comes in all kinds of different scenarios, companies and work schedule of the company. I believe work schedules are fair or not fair depending on the company one works for.

Early in my work career I started as hourly and worked 40 hours a week, and overtime when the job required and authorized it. If, in my work experience I didn't get the job done and overtime was not authorized, I came back the next morning and continued on. The boss determined if I was or not getting the job done to meet the time schedule of the company.

Halfway in my career I became salaried non exempt which meant I worked a base salary of 40 hours but still got paid overtime when needed by the company.

Toward the last 10 years of my career I worked salaried exempt which meant I worked a salary base of 40 hours but didn't get paid for overtime. like Ray's work. There were many times I worked overtime but it was at my discretion when I decided to call it a day as long as I met the time schedule and completed my work for the company.

After 43 years of working full time, I learned a hard lesson because I worked in a career I never really liked. It was my fault and my choice to choose the field I did, but I am grateful it was the Lord who sustained me, He kept me working and I earned a good salary.
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Well, it is now 9:23 PM and I just called is day (15 hours and 52 minutes). I got a little over half of what I wanted to get done done. I will try is again tomorrow.

When I do retire, it is my plan to put my PI license to use and just take on odds and ends and see what happens. It's either that or I will need a hobby.

Rtm
 
Some people don't understand that for women its different as we have other obligations, commitments with family etc. We can't spend ALL our time in paid work and then expect to do more work on top of that unpaid. Because housework is never ending, families are important, meal times are important and we are not robots.

For those that own a business, it may be your passion and you are happy to spend ALL your time doing it, never having a break, because you own it. But not everyone can get to the point of owning their own business with no capital and resources. Plus having your own business consumes you to the point where you may not have time for your family. Being busy ALL the time is no virtue.

Ppl complain when it's too quiet, and then they complain when it's too busy. This is why so many want that work-life balance. It might be different to different people, but it's important, because workaholics get stressed out and are really not nice people to be around..and unemployed people despair and give up hope.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone.
I need to go to work now, but on my days off tomorrow I hope to reply with some questions.

First, can we all agree what "work" even is?
Some people enjoy their Jobs. Can this even be called work when one enjoys what they are doing for pay?

And, after the fall, its only then "work" entered the scene. So it seems "work" is meant to be toil. So those who enjoy their jobs are not really working according to the bible?
 
Via dolarossa said:
Thanks for all the replies everyone.
I need to go to work now, but on my days off tomorrow I hope to reply with some questions.

First, can we all agree what "work" even is?
Some people enjoy their Jobs. Can this even be called work when one enjoys what they are doing for pay?

And, after the fall, its only then "work" entered the scene. So it seems "work" is meant to be toil. So those who enjoy their jobs are not really working according to the bible?
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Good point and I kind of agree... kind of.

Rtm
 
Well, I apologise to everyone for wasting your time.
Wouldn’t it have been Better to first grasp what work even is theologically speaking?sorry.

Ok, so gotquestions has a biblical perspective I agree with on what work is, although I couldn’t quite express it.

www.gotquestions.org

What is a biblical theology of work? | GotQuestions.org

What is a biblical theology of work? Why is it important to have a theology of work that is based on the teachings of the Bible?
www.gotquestions.org

This is what I’m taking about.
work is simply engaging in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose or result.! I like that.

Before I can move forward, Can you all who are seasons Christians agree with this theology?
 
Lanolin said:
My thing would be...not to have any bills haha

Electricity would be freely generated
Nobody would need to pay rent, everyone has their own home
Water would be free and fresh from the springs and rain
telecommunications would be free

Ok maybe it won't work, but I haven't really studied enough economics to know much more, though I do know communism/capitalist systems only work up to a point and then they collapse into a big heap. Feudalism wasn't really working out for people either
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I haven’t studied economics either. The idea of everything being free that we need to survive seems ok in a perfect world. But don’t forget, we are all sinners, and I know from experience, when I lived at home in the 80’s I had everything freely given by my parents and I most often ruined them. I didn’t appreciate them.
I fully understand the meaning of cutting my own wood to keep myself twice as warm. I loose appreciate for things when I don’t work for them.
 
rtm3039 said:
I am unsure that working only four hours a day is going to work (pun intended). Also, the idea that everything would eventually be "free" is not even close to realistic.

It appears to me that the US places too much stress on how long people work or where they do their work from. In law enforcement, many departments use what is called a "4/3 split." The workday is 10 hours (10*4=40) and you get three days off. That allows for better work/home balance. It also allows for twice as many cops on the road during high incident times (with three shifts, there is a two hour overlap).

After the COVID thing, I really thought we would embrace the idea of teleworking better. It does not appear to be the case. The work my office does does not really require going to an office. The problem is that many people are not disciplined enough to pull this off. Aside from my 8-hour day, I have to add around 2.5 hours of travel to and from the office. On the days when I do decide to work from home, those 2.5 hours are spent doing work.

The problem with this is that some of my people would (and have) taken advantage of this freedom to not do anything. Some also just do not have the home infrastructure to get their jobs done (poor internet, no copier or scanner, etc) from home.

Some of this is just poor work ethics. Cell phones are a good example. We do not get issued work cell phone and use our own. People complain about this, despite the fact that we incur no additional expense for using our phones. How silly is that?

I really do not have a good answer to this problem, but I wish someone would find one.

Rtm
Click to expand...
Yes I see. Those with good work ethics ought to be treated better and given the time at home as their behaviour shows.

We are seeing it here in the U.K. long hours and stressful travel in the office has proved to be a pain. Maybe those with bad work ethics will have to earn their freedom from the office. I can’t do my job from home, and even though I am paid poorly And work in a toxic work environment, it’s my job to change that which I am trying to do.

Another thing I think about is automation. If and when all physical jobs are automated whatever jobs will be created next, will we still be working all the hours God sends just to stay alive?
 
forgiven61 said:
i can speak for my job no matters the amount of hours worked. they still cant produce enough to fill the demand of sales .i cant speak for any other nation but n the united states
we cant keep enough people working , we use to use temp job services not even they can supply enough workers .

people are hired then later quit if i could figure out how to pay my bills and eat and save for a retirement such as it will be . i will quit my job

up till about 3 weeks ago i was working 4 ten hour days 8 hours on Friday and a Saturday along the way. the assembly line works 8 1/2 hours everyday. 8 hours on Saturday twice a month . we make lawn more engines we cant make enough trying to run 3 lines 1st and 2nd shift. we recently brought in worker from Mexico the work close to 12 hour days .they start mid day on 1st work all 2nd shift

no reduction in hours is not the key. people working is every place is hiring menards building supply part time 16.00 a hour advertise additional 3.00 a hour week ends .

imo the companies need take care of those of us who show up everyday and work
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Maybe the problem is, that the lawnmowers your company makes don’t last very long.
Today my boss had fitted yet another geezer and it’s only been in situ for 18 months. And we have had 2 geezers and I have only worked here 3 years🙁

What happened to the days when things lasted 10 or even 20 years? I had a tv that was still going strong 20 years later….
 
Hopefull said:
Im retired from an Electrolux plant. We made transmissions for washing machines. Three 8 hr shifts worked around the clock 5 days and sometimes a half day Saturday if needed. I was always a hog for overtime so 4 hrs wouldnt cut it for me.
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yes I have found mys of bored whilst idle….
Did you find yourself bored working 4 hours a day, if you don’t mind me asking?

I think if we had our basic needs met, by working just 4 hours a day,
Wouldn’t it be nice to study/ learn like the aristocrats do?
I don’t mean, idly doing nothing when I vouch for free time. But, rather, using it wisely. To learn new things for instance.
 
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