Program date: Oct. 21
Air date: Oct. 24
From the City Club of Eugene:
Topic:
Working 40 hours a week over five days has become common for most full-time employees. People often refer to it as the traditional or standard work week. One variation is a “4/10” schedule, when an employee works four 10-hour days and then gets three days off each week. This is sometimes called a “compressed” work week. The 4/10 plan was tried in the past and did not catch on broadly. Employees who work 40 hours a week on any schedule typically receive benefits and other job perks from their employers, while those who work fewer days and hours do not.
Economist and sociologist Juliet Schor says the traditional approach to work scheduling needs a redesign. Thirty-two hours over four days is enough work in most jobs, she claims, and it should be considered full-time and paid as such. She’s leading four-day work week trials in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, and the results so far have been overwhelmingly positive. They include increased employee well-being, lower stress, better health and more sleep. Employers have also been enthusiastic. Making the case for this model—fewer hours and days, full-time pay—Schor explains how it could address major challenges like burnout and the climate crisis. She shows how companies and governments could collaborate to make it a reality.
In this program you will hear about the trials and where the 4-day work week will work.
Speaker:
Juliet Schor, the Wayne Morse Chair for 2021 to 2023, is an economist and sociologist at Boston College. Her research focuses on work, consumption, and climate change. Her most recent book, After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win It Back (2020), won the Porchlight Management and Workplace Culture Book of the Year Award. Schor is a cofounder of the Center for a New American Dream, the South End Press, and the Center for Popular Economics. She earned a BA at Wesleyan University and a PhD in economics at the University of Massachusetts—Amherst.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 pm, on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, contact Silver A. Mogart, City Club of Eugene, Executive Director, (541) 485-7433, administrator@cityclubofeugene.org