Approaching The Four-Day Workweek
In March 2024, a proposal came through at the federal level for a shortened workweek that would take a five-day workweek, or 40 hours, to four days, 32 hours, without a reduction in pay or benefits.
While I agree that weekends should generally be family time to recharge and relax, it seems that we are reducing the very thing that makes America great as just a necessary evil. Hard work gave me the success that I enjoy with my family right now. Without it, I would have nothing.
The path to success is to work hard and play hard. However, we seem to have a powerful sector of society who see it differently and feel you can enjoy the fruits of productivity without production. It can feel like the world they seek is one where we are entitled to earn a certain amount without putting in the needed work. Society cannot function if people are not at their designated posts doing their job. Factories would stop churning products. Airplanes, trains and buses would not move without pilots and drivers. Our offices, factories, and homes would not get cleaned without cleaners. We need work to live.
There’s a saying that goes, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times,” from the novelist G. Michael Hopf that applies here.
Unfortunately, this latest proposal makes many leaders feel as though it will create good times, while creating weakness in the workforce, thus giving us hard times in the future.
Take for example the experience of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC). This cutting-edge semiconductor wafer fabrication facility runs the world’s most advanced chipmaking processes, even sometimes ahead of companies like Intel and Samsung, and counts companies like Nvidia and Apple as their customers. The U.S. government, worried about losing access to TSMC’s fab capacity, convinced TSMC to build a wafer fab in Arizona.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
At the level of powerful politicians and executives, everything seemed to go well. Unfortunately, the truth on the ground was that the hardworking Taiwanese engineers could not get along with their American counterparts. Taiwanese engineers are used to working long hours and sacrificing family time for the company, which did not sit well with their U.S. counterparts.
What can business leaders do to support hard work and time for commitments outside of work? First, it’s important to understand a key truth. The tone of any company is set by its leaders.
If the leaders come to work on weekends and spend long hours in the office, the juniors will want to blend into that culture. If family life is not treated with respect by senior management, that culture will be absorbed by the junior staff simply because they want to fit in and get promoted.
Thus, if you want to have a healthier and well-balanced corporate setting, and you are senior management, you need to set the tone. If you appear to others as subjectively overweight or in some way out of shape, perhaps the optics of being seen as working out or just running will be viewed positively. If the junior staff know it is acceptable to be with family members for important occasions, then they will not hesitate to file leave for those situations.
America has led the world because of hard work. “Rosie the Riveter” was a term given to women who worked long hours in World War II to ensure that U.S. factories churned out the tanks, airplanes and ships needed to win the war.
Maybe in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate a lot of jobs, and proposal leaders might find that they actually want to ensure there is enough work for everyone. When that day arrives, we will want to find work. Any work.
America was built on the shoulders of hardworking men and women. Trying to make life too easy for American workers risks weakening our economy, making our businesses and companies less competitive, and sending the wrong signal — pushing the bar too far to the soft side.