American Block Redevelopment | 3 fl | U/C

[tomh009]

I think people would prefer that if they had to be in the office. There's some evidence that working from home, on the contrary, reduces productivity. That way you get the best of both. Employees get more time off, productivity goes up and wages don't decrease. But to achieve that in North America I think we'll need a cultural shift where we stop living to work, rather than working to live. We still believe the latter to be true here, largely in part because we share a similar economic philosophy with our southern brethren who's entire existence seems to be dedicated to working, lest they end up with skid row.

Also, I don't believe 4 days in office (3 day weekend) is any improvement over 5 days remote. Going in to the office takes about 2 extra hours out of my day: 1 hour commuting, and waking up about an hour earlier to get ready, eat, and have coffee before leaving. Do that 4 days a week and it's already added up to another 8 hour workday. And you can be sure that the majority of people moving to a 4 day work week would see a pay reduction. A lot of office parks are also in rather desolate places... If I have an appointment during a workday, I can usually complete it in far less time leaving from home vs my office.

If a company wants to pay me an extra 2 hours a day to come in, I'm still not sure I would be happy about it. Despite being in the top 5-10% of incomes, I don't see a future in Ontario where I can comfortably have a family and a home I would be comfortable raising a family in, and getting paid those extra 2 hours wouldn't change anything. The next best thing I can do with my life is claw back as much free time as possible, and actually enjoy it.

I think the suggested idea was working four 10h days instead of five 8h days. That reduces your total commute time and gives you a full day off to do things that need a bigger block of time -- at the cost of longer workdays on the other four days. I don't see why this arrangement should reduce compensation.

P.S. A top 5% income in Canada is $133K+ (top 10% is $102K+). I don't think most people would struggle on that kind of salary. (Of course, if you did decide to raise kids with only one parent working, that will have to result in some compromises elsewhere.)