The New Zealander trying to revolutionise the working week: ‘It’s a rational business decision’

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The 4-day working week movement is gaining traction. From a speck of an island at the bottom of the world, one man is intent on change

of the four-day week in 2021; by the end of the year, they had opted to extend it. In Iceland, trials of a 35-hour work week

‘I would think about what [former employer] Macquarie would do, and then do precisely the opposite’ says Barnes.Gregarious and expressive, Barnes speaks with the conviction of an evangelist. His own approach and motivations were partly forged as a young investment banker in the UK, working punishing hours in a brutally competitive sector.

He concluded it was the latter. Barnes left investment banking to take time off, and vowed not to replicate the culture at Macquarie, which he said encouraged overwork. Going forward, he says, “I adopted a philosophy that said: I would think about what Macquarie would do, and then do precisely the opposite.”ow, Barnes is seeking a revolution of the week as it currently stands.

Any fundamental change to the way we arrange working time can be hard to get one’s head around, says Dr Laura Giurge, an assistant professor at London School of Economics, who studies time, wellbeing and the future of work. “The long-term benefits of just trying it can really outweigh any potential cost. So I think [the barrier] primarily could be psychological. It’s just the inertia: oh, I’m not gonna try because what I have now is doing OK.

That’s all very well if you’re drafting wills, or staring at a computer screen all day, or, for that matter, a CEO speaking from one of your sunny vineyards on Waiheke. But what about nurses, cleaners, shopkeepers and waiters – those for whom it’s harder to imagine 100% of work being accomplished in 80% of the hours?

 

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I heard of a small town school in BC Canada that went to a 4 day wk & it makes so much sense. Has anyone looked at whether that would help the teacher shortage & student wellbeing?

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