“Life’s too short for bad coffee.”
-Gord Downie
Working in Whistler, for most, is not like working in other parts of the world.
For one, many of us don’t get traditional weekends.
Most Whistler workers get their days off during the slower weekday periods.
Either that or they don’t get days off at all, because it’s so expensive here you have to work more than one job just to get by.
For the vast majority of us, the idea that work will consume a good chunk of our lives, our personal pursuits relegated to evenings and two-day weekends, is just an accepted fact.
That’s how it was for our parents, and their parents before them.
But wasn’t technology supposed to free us from this cycle?
What if we all—wait for it—worked less, and still got paid the same?
That’s the question being posed down south by independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is not only still alive, but advocating for a 32-hour, or four-day work week for Americans with a new bill.
In a March 19 op-ed in the Washington Post, Sanders made his case for the legislation, pointing out American workers are 400-per-cent more productive than they were in the 1940s, yet millions are working longer hours for lower wages.
Adjusted for inflation, the average American worker makes almost $50 a week less than they would have 50 years ago, he said.
“Let that sink in for a moment. In a 1974 office, there were no computers, email, cellphones, conference calling or Zoom. In factories and warehouses, there were no robots or sophisticated machinery, no cloud computing. In grocery stores and shops of all kinds, there were no checkout counters using bar codes,” Sanders wrote.
“Think about all the incredible advancements in technology—computers, robotics, artificial intelligence—and the huge increase in worker productivity that has been achieved. What have been the results of these changes for working people? Almost all the economic gains have gone straight to the top, while wages for workers are stagnant or worse.”
He goes on to also point out it’s really not a radical idea, as the U.S. Senate itself overwhelmingly passed 30-hour workweek legislation in 1933 (before it ultimately failed in the face of corporate opposition), and many countries have already done it or are considering it (including Belgium, France, Norway, Denmark and the U.K.).
Studies on the four-day workweek model have found increased productivity, less burnout, less turnover, and workers reporting less stress and fatigue.
The idea is gaining steam in Canada and North America—according to the Toronto Star, all 41 companies that took part in a recent four-day workweek pilot made it permanent after seeing the results.
Business owners might rightly be skeptical of the math—100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the work?—and whether or not it works will come down to the individual employer.
Praxis PR in Toronto is one company that adopted a permanent four-day model after an initial trial.
Employees work staggered shifts to cover the week, while the company tracks key metrics such as business results and client and employee satisfaction to make sure the new model is working.
After six months, Praxis was so impressed the company made it permanent.
“Just in my discussions with the team, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in change across those sort of core metrics and people just feeling a renewed passion for what we do as communicators,” co-founder Matt Juniper told CBC News.
But a PR company in Toronto is a much different operation than, say, a service business in Whistler, where finding enough workers is already a challenge.
In a statistical brief on the four-day workweek released in September 2023, Stats Canada noted the country was still seeing a significant labour shortage, to the tune of 843,200 job vacancies, or a vacancy rate of 4.7 per cent, in the first quarter of 2023.
The good news is that’s down from an all-time high of 984,600 vacancies in Q2 2022. The bad news is the highest vacancy rates are still being seen in accommodation and food services (7.9 per cent).
Stats Can also notes those industries that require workers to clock overtime—like construction and manufacturing—will be most likely to require additional staff to maintain current productivity levels under the four-day workweek.
“Could it work on a larger scale? Ultimately, it depends on the individual employer to make the call—one that would have to take into consideration economic and labour conditions,” the briefing said.
The idea of working less in favour of personal enjoyment is alien to some. But then, in a biological sense, the five-day, 40-hour workweek is pretty unnatural, isn’t it?
Does it not sometimes feel like you are fighting against all your innate instincts when you power past the snooze button each morning?
Wouldn’t something deep inside you rather be in a forest somewhere, waking up to the sound of the birds and wind? Or alone on top of a mountain?
Transitioning to a four-day workweek would be an adjustment, sure. But life is short, and making more time for ourselves is worth the discomfort.
