re: Who in the hell came up with the concept that 40 hrs per week constitutes full time work

You don't have to. That's the beauty of the free market.

Sure, you'll make less money, but you won't have to work as much.

Get to a point where your bills are minimal and you won't have to work as much.

Haven't read through the thread, but this is where the Western European countries get it right. They work to live rather than living to work.

Italians average 960 hours per year.
The French average 1,007 hours per year.
Germans average 1,053 hours per year.
Spaniards average 1,089 hours per year.

The US? 1,353 hours per year.

A lot of studies show that shorter work weeks make the workforce more productive.

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A lot of studies show that shorter work weeks make the workforce more productive

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I believe it, but I think all the countries you’ve mentioned except Germany have gone through an economic crisis lately

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Haven't read through the thread, but this is where the Western European countries get it right. They work to live rather than living to work.

Italians average 960 hours per year.
The French average 1,007 hours per year.
Germans average 1,053 hours per year.
Spaniards average 1,089 hours per year.

The US? 1,353 hours per year.

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Well, Germany is really the only financially secure of those.

However a shorter workweek is on the horizon for everyone. Technology will make it happen.

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A lot of studies show that shorter work weeks make the workforce more productive.

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Yet, ironically, you're leaving off of your list the most productive countries in the world.

No one ever has ever reached the end of their life wishing they had spent more time away from their family working. If you are working more than 40 hours a week re-evaluate your life, nothing you are doing is more important than time with you family. I grew up with a dad that was driven, and totally committed to his job, we knew he was doing it for our family, but we would have rather had less things and more of him.

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Yet, ironically, you're leaving off of your list the most productive countries in the world.

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Time article on production of workers

RANK COUNTRY GDP PER HOUR WORKED EMPLOYED POPULATION GDP (USD) AVERAGE WORK WEEK (HRS)
1 Luxembourg $ 93.4 405,600 $57b 29
2 Ireland $ 87.3 1,989,400 $302b 33.5
3 Norway $ 81.3 2,753,000 $318b 27.3
4 Belgium $ 69.7 4,601,200 $498b 29.8
5 United States $ 68.3 151,000,000 $18,037b 33.6
6 Denmark $ 67.6 2,829,000 $270b 27.2
7 France $ 65.6 27,523,000 $2,648b 28.2
8 Germany $ 65.5 43,057,000 $3,857b 26.3
9 Netherlands $ 65.4 8,792,000 $818b 27.4
10 Switzerland $ 64.2 4,962,600 $506b 30.6
11 Austria $ 60.2 4,290,700 $415b 30.9
12 Sweden $ 59.1 4,809,700 $458b 31
13 Finland $ 54.8 2,497,400 $225b 31.6
14 Australia $ 54.6 11,860,000 $1,101b 32.7
15 United Kingdom $ 52.1 31,293,000 $2,701b 31.9
16 Italy $ 51.9 24,476,100 $2,191b 33.1
17 Spain $ 51 18,490,800 $1,594b 32.5
18 Canada $ 50.9 18,285,700 $1,589b 32.8
19 Iceland $ 45.1 183,700 $16b 36.1
20 Japan $ 41.9 65,801,200 $4,741b 33.1
21 New Zealand $ 40.9 2,360,600 $170b 33.8
22 Slovenia $ 40.4 941,500 $64b 32.5
23 Israel $ 40.3 3,947,100 $300b 36.3
24 Slovak Republic $ 39.7 2,267,100 $158b 33.7
25 Czech Republic $ 38 5,179,700 $346b 33.8
26 Portugal $ 35.4 4,575,800 $303b 35.9
27 Greece $ 35.3 4,019,800 $288b 39.1
28 Hungary $ 33.5 4,327,500 $254b 33.6
29 Lithuania $ 32.6 1,334,700 $81b 35.8
30 Korea $ 31.9 25,936,300 $1,749b 40.7
31 Estonia $ 31.6 622,900 $36b 35.6
32 Latvia $ 28.3 887,900 $48b 36.7
33 Chile $ 25.9 7,802,200 $402b 38.2
34 Russia $ 25.1 72,187,700 $3,580b 38
35 Mexico $ 20.3 50,262,900 $2,188b 41.2

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4 ten hour shifts

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This, Monday-Thursday, is what i would love.. 10 hour days aren’t too bad, and having that extra day for the weekend would be awesome.

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wonder this too. It’s amazing how much more efficient we are with getting things done since we have email, fast programs, network databases vs. hard copies, etc.

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Technology has improved so much yet we still work the same amount of hours. Where is the time saved going? I suppose that’s what keeps the economy growing, and we get it back in our investments?

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Unfortunately advancements in technology instead of letting us do the things we were doing in less time, just created more things that can be done that were added to what we were already doing.

Unfortun

I don't care about the 40 hours. It's just the 8 hour days. I used to work 4 10s. It was awesome having every Fri, Sat, and Sun off. I thought about going back to school for something in the medical field. Working 3 14 hour shifts and being off 4 days sounds pretty good.