Time to bring back the three day week?
Discussion
The UK is facing an unprecedented number of redundancies, with up to four million people expected to be out of work by next year.
Companies are shedding huge numbers of workers in an attempt to cut costs, while those fortunate enough to retain employment are likely to be put under more pressure with increased workloads. It is also likely that the tax burden on those workers will increase to help those out of work.
So is it time to bring back job sharing in major way? Limit maximum hours to, say, 25 per week so that more people can get employment? It would give people more time for family and hobbies, while also allowing more people to be gainfully employed and paying into, rather than taking from, the government coffers.
Companies are shedding huge numbers of workers in an attempt to cut costs, while those fortunate enough to retain employment are likely to be put under more pressure with increased workloads. It is also likely that the tax burden on those workers will increase to help those out of work.
So is it time to bring back job sharing in major way? Limit maximum hours to, say, 25 per week so that more people can get employment? It would give people more time for family and hobbies, while also allowing more people to be gainfully employed and paying into, rather than taking from, the government coffers.
monkfish1 said:
Murph7355 said:
Nope.
It's time to encourage business to create 4m new jobs.
Thats going to need a fundamental shift in government thinking. Cant see that happening. It's time to encourage business to create 4m new jobs.
So far all we have seen is the reverse.
Lord.Vader said:
How many people could afford to take appx 30% paycut? After tax / NI / pension etc it may not be 30% net but even a 20% net reduction?
I think id prefer a 30% cut than a 100% cut. At this stage very few people outside of government jobs can be confident of being in work in six months time.
Its going to have to happen at some point IMO.
Whether its because of covid this year, or because of automation in 5 years, or 10 years. All very well saying retrain/ reskill checkout workers (etc), but there's a reason Sharon from til no2 at the local coop isn't already working in a highend IT job
And Universal Basic Income could perhaps be looked at? (I don't say that as a big fan of it, if I get 100 extra a week, but I'm taxed an extra 100, it seems a bit pointless.....but I can see the other benefits such as streamlined/ easier pension/ benefit payments)
Did the labour manifesto have a serious commitment to a 4 day week? Or just something to look at?
Whether its because of covid this year, or because of automation in 5 years, or 10 years. All very well saying retrain/ reskill checkout workers (etc), but there's a reason Sharon from til no2 at the local coop isn't already working in a highend IT job
And Universal Basic Income could perhaps be looked at? (I don't say that as a big fan of it, if I get 100 extra a week, but I'm taxed an extra 100, it seems a bit pointless.....but I can see the other benefits such as streamlined/ easier pension/ benefit payments)
Did the labour manifesto have a serious commitment to a 4 day week? Or just something to look at?
johnboy1975 said:
Its going to have to happen at some point IMO.
Whether its because of covid this year, or because of automation in 5 years, or 10 years. All very well saying retrain/ reskill checkout workers (etc), but there's a reason Sharon from til no2 at the local coop isn't already working in a highend IT job
And Universal Basic Income could perhaps be looked at? (I don't say that as a big fan of it, if I get 100 extra a week, but I'm taxed an extra 100, it seems a bit pointless.....but I can see the other benefits such as streamlined/ easier pension/ benefit payments)
Did the labour manifesto have a serious commitment to a 4 day week? Or just something to look at?
Modern technology has been replacing outmoded manual labour for centuries, and Sharons have always been able to find work.Whether its because of covid this year, or because of automation in 5 years, or 10 years. All very well saying retrain/ reskill checkout workers (etc), but there's a reason Sharon from til no2 at the local coop isn't already working in a highend IT job
And Universal Basic Income could perhaps be looked at? (I don't say that as a big fan of it, if I get 100 extra a week, but I'm taxed an extra 100, it seems a bit pointless.....but I can see the other benefits such as streamlined/ easier pension/ benefit payments)
Did the labour manifesto have a serious commitment to a 4 day week? Or just something to look at?
We'll adapt. There won't be a 3 day week unless people want it (3 day weeks and more leisure time have been predicted for at least 4 decades too...).
boyse7en said:
I think id prefer a 30% cut than a 100% cut.
At this stage very few people outside of government jobs can be confident of being in work in six months time.
Yes, a lot of people will lose their jobs and it’s reckoned that unemployment could reach 4m, maybe more, but the working population is something like 32m so the majority will still be in work so you’re asking for the vast majority to take a pay cut to subsidise the newly unemployed. At this stage very few people outside of government jobs can be confident of being in work in six months time.
Add in that a lot of jobs require specialist training for example which makes them unproductive for months if not years before they’re at the level of the person they’re now sharing a job with by which time the economy will have hopefully bounced back.
What we should be doing is encouraging and assisting (paid training, extra financial assistance, etc) those who have lost their jobs to train in areas where there will be demand in future.
....Or we need to stop buying cheap s
t from China and spend our money more wisely on UK manufactured products that will last longer....
We need to end our addiction to plastic crap, made and shipped from the far east, and invest and spend our money on UK manufacturing.
We don't make anything anymore, and what we buy from abroad generally breaks very quickly and get's replaced by more crap.
t from China and spend our money more wisely on UK manufactured products that will last longer....We need to end our addiction to plastic crap, made and shipped from the far east, and invest and spend our money on UK manufacturing.
We don't make anything anymore, and what we buy from abroad generally breaks very quickly and get's replaced by more crap.
Having lived through many ups & downs.
Three day week is the worst case scenario.
You are better to cut deep & have those that are left fully motivated. The three day week thing is like trying to ride two horses, none of which are happy.
I learnt the above the hard way in the early nineties.
Three day week is the worst case scenario.
You are better to cut deep & have those that are left fully motivated. The three day week thing is like trying to ride two horses, none of which are happy.
I learnt the above the hard way in the early nineties.
super7 said:
....Or we need to stop buying cheap st from China and spend our money more wisely on UK manufactured products that will last longer....
We need to end our addiction to plastic crap, made and shipped from the far east, and invest and spend our money on UK manufacturing.
We don't make anything anymore, and what we buy from abroad generally breaks very quickly and get's replaced by more crap.
Why this obsession with 'making stuff'? About 2% of the retail price of a Chinese made iphone ends up with the Chinese assembler, over 50% goes to Apple.t from China and spend our money more wisely on UK manufactured products that will last longer....We need to end our addiction to plastic crap, made and shipped from the far east, and invest and spend our money on UK manufacturing.
We don't make anything anymore, and what we buy from abroad generally breaks very quickly and get's replaced by more crap.
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