I sustained a five day workweek for more than two decades, but now that I have young kids it's hard. Weekdays are work + childcare, then two hours of being a vegetable, then sleep. Weekends are childcare, then two hours of being a vegetable, then sleep.
A 4 day work week would really help by giving me one day with 8 hours of me time, but that's not something any job here is going to provide. Fortunately, having sustained that 5 day work week for so long with "North America" compensation, I can comfortably go to a 0 day work week. It would be better for the economy if I continued to participate via a 3 or 4 day work week, but any job that would give me that would pay so little as to not be worth it.
> It would be better for the economy if I continued to participate via a 3 or 4 day work week
Not necessarily even. Better for the GDP but not necessarily the long-term economy, which might actually be more likely to thrive in the long run with more happy, balanced people out there.
Honestly I have not asked. I've poked around in the HR guidelines for companies I've worked for (big tech companies) and the provisions for less than full-time work are either non-existent or so full of unfriendly exceptions and approvals that I assumed it wasn't a realistic option. I have also never seen or heard of anyone doing it at those companies across the hundreds of people I have worked with.
I'd love to hear if anyone at a FAANG pulled it off, how they did it, and what the financial impact was.
A 4 day work week would really help by giving me one day with 8 hours of me time, but that's not something any job here is going to provide. Fortunately, having sustained that 5 day work week for so long with "North America" compensation, I can comfortably go to a 0 day work week. It would be better for the economy if I continued to participate via a 3 or 4 day work week, but any job that would give me that would pay so little as to not be worth it.