Why do we still work 5 days a week?

PostWhy do we still work 5 days a week? by **Floex** » Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:53 pm

Why do we still do it? Do we really work to our full potential across 5 days?

Personally I truly don’t think we do. I’ve been working a 9-5 work run since my 20’s and been employed pretty all that time until last year when I was made redundant. I took time out to reflect on what I really wanted to do and set myself a goal each day. Some days I was flowing with ideas, others nothing. Why am I telling you this? Well, it’s kind of opened my eyes how much work takes over our lives. Or atleast how much we work for other people and not for ourselves. We get into a routine and think nothing of it. But having broken it, something needs to change.

Having now gone back into full time employment, time to work on my own projects has all but gone. I’m too tired by the time I get in and when the weekend rolls round I need a break and want to socialise. Im missing a day when I can work for myself, a time to work for me.

I’m not looking for a four day week but a four day work run where I can earn money and a fifth day to work on what I want to do. I know people will ask, why don’t you go freelance? Well, it’s hard work that’s why

If I knew I as working four days in a row I would make sure I’d work my hardest in that time. I’d feel more refreshed and produce better content for my current job. Hell, I’d work more hours in those 4 days to cover the missing day.

Anyone else feel this way or are we forever a slave to the system?

i really dont mean to be rude or dismissive of anyone's job but my job fills my day and then some - there's always something else to do :dread:

i envy those with jobs where they can actually coast or do some work and then clock off till the next day!

I haven't worked 5 days a week in over 3 years now :datass:

It does seem a somewhat antiquated system, but at the same time the issue is that most people work 5 days of the week because most other people work 5 days of the week. Everything in terms of salary calculations and holiday entitlements all revolves around that 5 day/37.5-40 hour working week. Ultimately, the reason is probably because it makes life easier for HR, and in just about any company it's HR who really call the shots on decisions like that.

I genuinely think I'd be more productive if I worked a four day week

But actually what I think would be good is if we did a university and could take Wednesday afternoon's off to do sport

Lagamorph wrote:I haven't worked 5 days a week in over 3 years now

It does seem a somewhat antiquated system, but at the same time the issue is that most people work 5 days of the week because most other people work 5 days of the week. Everything in terms of salary calculations and holiday entitlements all revolves around that 5 day/37.5-40 hour working week. Ultimately, the reason is probably because it makes life easier for HR, and in just about any company it's HR who really call the shots on decisions like that.

We ain't that powerful! We just police the systems. The bigger issue is that for someone to work less than 5 days and do say 4, means a day when a customer doesn't get service. You really need a systemic level change to move away from 5 day weeks, or we all need to be prepared to earn less.

I'd quite happily work 4 days a week too!

Saturday and Sunday really should be considered working days in 2018.

I'm busy constantly, it's been bad since the start of the year. Maintaining targets, getting all the other work done, it's a bit overbearing at times. Feel like I never have enough time to do anything these days. Everything is like the biggest botch job, and it really sucks.

I do get pissed off with it by Thursday. By the time Friday rolls around I'm pretty apathetic. I don't want to work overtime anymore because I will just get more stuff that I have to worry about. I still manage to maintain the same pace of work throughout the week though.

Because gooseberry fool needs to be done, and customers just keep on coming.

We should work every day and be given 104 extra days of annual leave to account for weekends :nod:

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you joke but that wouldnt be a bad idea (on a human level) there are many days when i wish i could swap a weekend for a weekday to address something pressing in my personal life and cant always do so

Fortunately it's not something I have to deal with, but what's absolute bullshit is places that force you to take a Bank Holiday as a day off and also force you to use one of your days of annual leave to do it.

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I work shifts and it suits me perfectly, I work predominantly twice hour shifts (days and nights) with one week in eight doing Monday to Friday eight hour days. As someone who commutes going in less for longer is massively beneficial, the time off means plenty of time off or the chance to do overtime and mentally it's beneficial knowing that you only have a couple of shifts before another day off. The down sides are that you work weekends and bank holidays and it's generally pretty inflexible but with some swaps and creative use of annual leave you can get about 11 weeks off through the year.

I couldn't go back to 9-5.

Yeah, I always hear people wonder why we are still working the same hours our parents did decades ago despite technology being so much more advanced but it's really no mystery at all.

It's a consequence of the free market. We are massively more productive than we were fifty years ago thanks to technology, that's a fact, but why would those running things choose to reduce hours when they could simply keep the same number of hours and make more profit? You may have noticed that the rewards going to the top of society in proportion to everyone else have hugely increased in the last fifty years also (just look at executive pay to average employee ratios and the rise of shareholder dividends vs investment). If you just leave capitalism to its own devices then those with the means will simply leverage technology to increase the value extracted from employees. The only way to avert that would be for the state to step in (which they won't because they are influenced by those same moneyed interests and fear being outcompeted by other nations in trade) or for trade unions to take action (which they can't because they have been eviscerated by laws passed by successive governments).

I work a four week shift pattern that is a mixture of nine and ten hour shifts. So I work 18 days out of 28, whereas a 5 day a week job would be 20 days out of 28. I definitely prefer working slightly longer days to give me a few extra days off a month and would be happy to work longer days to get even more off. Last year we had a vote on two shift patterns and this one won, the annoying thing was the other pattern was all ten hour shifts and would have given us 12 extra days off a year but the idiots didn’t pick it.

I've worked 4 day weeks for years, probably since 2002 I think.
Also I work from home so I've probably got the dream setup.
I could probably earn more money elsewhere but this setup suits me so well - 3 day weekends every week mean my work/life balance is right where I want it. It has far more value to me than a pay rise by shifting jobs.

I reckon I'd be just as productive on a 4 day week or working 10-4 each day. My job is fairly mentally taxing and it's very difficult to work at full capacity all day, I need to allocate some time to zoning out and making unnecessary cups of coffee just to give myself a rest. And with a shorter week or less time to work each day I'd feel a lot more motivated and rested during the day and be even more able to work hard during the working hours.

Whenever you mention something like that it sounds like you just want a skive but I'm 100% serious. If I ever run a business I fully intent to stick by my idea.

I do a 37.5 hr week which is spread over four days.
Have done since I started there in 1999.
The senior managers - ward managers and above and admin staff all do 9-5 Monday to Friday.

I much prefer four days a week.

I work longer days during mon-fri than haf a day friday. I usually find my day very busy as Im doing three jobs.

Our company are looking at optional weekend work to give those with different lifestyles a chance to gave one of the weekdays off instead.

Retail work throughout the whole week as well as some other companies. I guess the whole mon-fri isn’t applicable to everyone

I guess the answer is that for a lot of jobs, employers need to have people at work in order to meet the needs of the business. People expect to be able to ring an office between 9-5 Monday to Friday for instance and employers don’t want to employ extra people just to cover the people who have a day off.

Flexible working does seem to be becoming more and more normal though, which is a good thing. I have worked 4 days a week (compressed hours, so a full 5 day week squeezed into 4 days) for years now which suits me.

The future is going to be interesting as more jobs become automated by machines, the hope is it will allow people more leisure time, but I will imagine it is going to lead to far more unemployment and people on part time wages that barely meet their needs.

<]:^D wrote:i really dont mean to be rude or dismissive of anyone's job but my job fills my day and then some - there's always something else to do i envy those with jobs where they can actually coast or do some work and then clock off till the next day!

This.

Why do we still work 5 days a week?

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