This has been known for decades (probably as long as the 5 day work week has been a thing)
And this is “fine”. Because not everyone has the same slack day. Hell, at my current job, me and a buddy outright acknowledge this and he takes the brunt on Fridays when I am just done with everything and I do Mondays when he is usually distracted with whatever his kids told him they need last minute.
Same with meetings. Some weeks, the ONLY thing I do on a wednesday is go to a few meetings. Or maybe me and someone else set a friday lunch meeting because that is the only time we both have a chance, and so forth.
For people who have “real jobs” where they actually work hard (so retail, construction, etc): You tend to not get the “easy” day for the most part. You are busting your ass and being overworked all week long.
For office workers and the like? I think there should be a lot of thought put in. Someone doing data entry might not need to be there all five days. Someone who is doing more design/planning role… we already end up working closer to 6. And efforts toward “flex time” and just general “We don’t care when you are ‘at work’ so long as you are available for meetings and get stuff done” go a long way toward that. Because, for example: I busted my ass for what amounts to a 20 hour shift yesterday getting stuff working for a customer. Today? I am basically checking my email but made it clear that even that is “I might not answer”. And I’ll probably take a few afternoons off next week to even it out.
But, with the shit world we live in: that would map to people who “don’t have to work all 5 days” getting paid 20% less. So pretending you are busy on a Friday afternoon is probably still the better option.
Wouldn’t this be the same for school then? If we don’t give kids the 4 day work week as well then you’re just fucking over a large group of adults that don’t get the five day work week and I bet your bottom dollar that you’ll have tons of staff leave across the country to get that sweet five day work week. What’s more precious than time? You can’t win against that.
Yo same. I’m burning out after 3 years of this. I’ve gotten to the point I don’t care anymore and I’m going to less than half ass shit until I make them fire me or I get a new job.
That’s besides the point. You have to be there so you don’t have enough time to achieve your hopes & dreams, ensuring you don’t build up any wealth, let alone generational wealth, and therefore can never challenge their dominance & authority.
I agree, this is more than whether we work more or less efficiently with 4 or 5 days in the office. The ruling class wants us in our white cages (office walls) for as long as possible so, as you said, they can ensure we can’t work on other stuff that truly satisfies us and gives us a chance of generating actual wealth rather than depending on whatever measly income they want us to live paycheck to paycheck on…
It’s highly unlikely that any of my dreams would make me wealthy, because they all involve having fun, improving myself, and/or making the world a better place. I think most other people are the same way.
That’s why my main goal is to accumulate ‘fuck you money’. Right now, I get my tasks done asap and gtfo and if they don’t like that, they can fire me if they’d like. If they don’t like that all my work flow is smooth and efficient but I leave early or come in late, they can frankly fuck right off… So far I got 5 years worth of living expenses stashed away (my fuck you money stash) but I’m trying to put it in places that it can generate me income in alternative ways so I can flip the script on them and remove any remaining leverage they have on me.
Browsing Lemmy is not doing nothing. I’m , um, keeping my head in tune with the global marketplace and honing my remote interpersonal skillset. Yeah, that’s what it is.