I Am Stardust

thesnarkbait:

shipsterella:

northw0man:

anyway, the 8 hour workday and the concept of “8 hours work, 8 hours rest, 8 hours recreation” is outdated and based on the lives and needs of married straight men who had a wife at home doing all the unpaid domestic labor, childcare, and elderly care. We should all be fighting for a 4 hour workday tbh

Research suggests that in an eight-hour day, the average worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes.

In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours

The workday and how we work are intimately related to productivity, yet more hours may not lead to increased focus, concentration, and succe

Inc.com

They did an experiment with a 6 hour workday in Gothenburg, on a nursing home. The staff became happier and healthier and the elderly also became happier and more content because the staff could focus more on their needs when they weren’t overworked and tired. The staff felt they had more time and energy towards the elderly.

Recently there was an article about a care home in Stockholm were they “””over hired””” (I would argue they just hired enough people), that is they added 1,5 full time staff member. There was an economic gain, not only in health for the workers but also with fewer temps, less overtime and less time wasted on constantly educating new people.

The 8 hour workday was met with the same ridicule a 6 hour workday would. Once, the upper class thought that 14 hour days were reasonable because the poor would just get into trouble if they had time off. Even when there’s actually net gain from caring about their workers, employers prefer making them miserable and paying the cost in new hires, medical costs and poor performance. People have fought and died for our free time and our weekends, even when we know a healthy worker is a healthy company. 

So it’s not strange, nor unbelievable, to take that fight again. There’s nothing holy or special with an 8 hour workday. It isn’t set in stone. It could be done.