Four-Day Work Week Will Never Happen!
And here is why…..
It is against human nature. And against current human necessity.
All the blather about a theoretical shorter work week and the equally theoretical, so-called Work/Life balance is just that. Blather.
Here is what is really going on and the entire Society knows it.
We cannot live on the one Full Time job we have. We know for a fact that the current generation of so-called “middle class” citizens require two incomes just to feed, house and sunset student debt.
So, right now, people are already working 2–3 jobs just to get by.
And for many, to get ahead.
What has been presented by powerful political people in Washington, and many in Europe, about some Utopian end game that will lead to a living wage for less work time, and that time will be re-allocated to the wife and kids or golfing or painting or whatever floats your boat. Including, maybe, floating in your boat.
Hogwash.
You already cannot live on the Full Time job you have, so you are grabbing side hustle money to close the gap.
How would reducing the workweek to 32 hours or four days change that?
It won’t. What you will do is exactly what you are doing now. Just more of it.
More second jobs. More side hustles. More schemes.
And perhaps a two-tier system that is already emerging of Have’s and Have Not’s. Or rather, Do’s or Do Not’s.
As Yoda said.
Now before we succumb into the darkness of this dystopian future, consider the possibilities for those that have been and always will be willing to embrace the work and the opportunity to excel in a highly competitive world many think should not exist.
Innovation will always flourish from those that fully grasp and embrace the inevitable reality that hard work is never going out of style, and will be rewarded even more handsomely as we matricuate through the Gig/Fractional economy and the attendant re-allocation of Labor and Value.
Good Value will gravitate towards Good Labor. Always has and always will.
Innovation follows Good Labor. Just ask Thomas Edison.
2% Inspiration. 98% Perspiration.
And the former comes from the latter.
That is immutable fact. There is no such thing as a successful big idea moment, that wasn’t followed up with bone jarring hard work and stress to make it come to life.
That scenario and path better be your vision of Utopia. You better enjoy this line of work cause there will be plenty of it.
This new Gig Economy will favor the ambitious. Obviously.
It will favor excellence made available on a Fractional basis. That Value will command market rate as in any profession. The best at it will make the most and their rate of pay will be way out of alignment with the Middle Class.
Just ask Shohei Ohtani or Tom Cruise or just about any top performer in their respective fields.
The competitiveness that runs through their bloodstreams, runs right through ours as well. Imagine how hard the absolute best in the world work at their jobs. Tiger.
That is how hard it is to be proficient at anything.
So, to wrap this all up with a bow. Nothing has really changed other than the harsh reality that one Middle Class income can no longer reasonably provide for a family of four.
We could rail on the decisions made by faraway powerful people causing inflation and bla bla bla. That may make us feel better for a moment. Or, we can just do something about it at the individual level, which is what we will always do anyway.
It is simply human nature to attack problems by working harder and in a hurry. We actually do want the pot of gold so we can retire. Or take on a second career.
The human potential released by embracing the new work ethic will cause the old “1000 points of light” so positively posited by President Bush the senior.
And will unleash innovation the likes of which world has never seen.
Instead of bemoaning the illusionary Work/Leisure myth, impact players will take on second jobs.
The Workers will win.
Just not by working 32 hours a week.
