It's time for 4-day workweeks 💼

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It's time for 4-day workweeks 💼

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The Nightcap model of a four-day week is gaining traction, y'all. We're being the change we wish to see in the world. Let's get into it.

By Allison Morrow

💸 PERCEPTION VS. REALITY

Americans apparently feel like the economy is in rough shape. But their actions — shopping like their lives depend on it – tell another story.

Here's the deal: Polls tell us that consumer sentiment is at a 10-year low. But retail sales last month shot up at the fastest pace since stimulus checks were sent out in the spring, my colleague Matt Egan writes.

Meanwhile, hiring has picked up. and workers are quitting their jobs at a record pace — that's actually a good thing, because it means they're confident they can find a better gig. And if you're fortunate enough to have money tied up in the stock market, you're probably doing just fine.

What's going on? Why's everyone so glum?

Ugh, I know you're tired of hearing the i-word but … it's inflation.

People don't always experience economic forces on a personal level day to day. But inflation? That's in-your-face economics. You're shelling out more to fill your car and feed your family. Lord help you if you need a new car.

So yes, we're angry, but we're taking out our anger on our credit cards and shopping like it's our job. That's great news for America's economy, two-thirds of which is tied to consumer spending.

Another reason we think the economy is worse than it is: The government got the numbers wrong. Over the summer, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics made it seem like job gains were slowing. But those reports were revised to show hiring was actually well above analysts' expectations.

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

As long as this inflation doesn't start to really bum us out so much that we stop spending, then...it's probably fine. At least from an economic point of view. But if this doomy-gloomy view of the economy persists, it's a very big problem for President Biden and the Democrats. Because even though very little about the price of gas is within the President's power to control, Americans have a long history of blaming high gas prices on whoever's in the White House.

#️⃣ NUMBER OF THE DAY

100,000

Target appears to be immune from the hiring problems other businesses are facing. The retailer said its turnover rate for hourly workers was lower this year compared with 2019, even after accounting for new hires. Target is also adding 100,000 new temporary employees to meet holiday shopping demand and offering its existing workforce five million additional hours of work during the busiest stretch of the year.

💼 KILL THE 5-DAY WEEK

If we've learned one thing from the "Great Resignation" as this moment is being called, it's that five-day workweeks are arbitrary and totally unnecessary.

American workers are quitting in record numbers — 4.3 million in August, and another 4.4 million in September. Managers across industries are having trouble hiring, even as they raise wages and offer incentives.

But a new survey offers support for a not-so-radical but still uncommon solution: The four-day workweek.

Researchers for financial firm Jefferies asked young Americans (ages 22 to 35) who had quit their jobs recently what their former bosses could have done to persuade them to stay. Their key findings:

Thirty-two percent said they would have stayed if they'd been offered a four-day work week. That was the second most-common answer, right behind the 43% who would have stayed for more money.
The study also found 80% of respondents support a four-day workweek.
As for the remaining 20%: Only 3% said they were against a shorter week, and 17% were "neutral."

The idea of a four-day week is hardly new, but the pandemic and the overwork that came with it have reinvigorated proponents. It's not a silver bullet for burnout, but it's a start.

There have been plenty of experiments to support the idea. One oft-cited study in Iceland, in which workers reduced their hours without reducing pay, was hailed as an overwhelming success. Researchers found that worker wellbeing dramatically increased across a range of indicators, such as perceived stress and burnout.

WHAT'S THE HOLDUP?

All the way back in 1930, the economist John Maynard Keynes famously predicted that working hours would wind down over time, and that by around 2030, we'd all be working 15 hours a week. Instead, working hours have only increased, especially among salaried employees.

Experts have offered a range of explanations. Inertia is a powerful force, especially in a big corporation accustomed to its way of life. But there are cultural underpinnings as well, as economist Ben Hunnicutt has argued. Before the early 20th century, "work and wealth had a destination — that was a richer, fuller human life," Hunnicutt told the Atlantic in June. But eventually, work for its own sake took over.

In other words, we work not because it supports our life; we work because it is our life.

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WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

👀 In an extremely 2021 move, the Los Angeles' Staples Center is switching its name to Crypto.com Arena.

🛢️ President Joe Biden asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether illegal activity by oil and gas companies is pushing up gas prices as he searches for a way to reduce pain at the pump. The American Petroleum Institute was, shall we say, a little peeved about the whole thing.

📱 Apple plans to give customers the ability to repair their own devices in response to growing pressure from regulators and consumers rights advocates.