Ask HN: How many of you would prefer a 30-hour workweek, with 3/4 of the pay?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9247113

by simonebrunozzi • 11 years ago

15 15 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

czbond• 11 years ago

Me. I personally consult so I can do something similar to this, but at 50% time.

byoung2• 11 years ago

I would if I could structure the 30 hours myself. For example, I would rather have 2.5 12-hour days or 3 10-hour days than 5 6-hour days.

moonka• 11 years ago

That would be awesome. I'd do it 3x10 (days x hours) if possible, otherwise 3x8 with 1x6 sounds good as well. 5x6 is a lot less appealing. I've done 4x10 for a few months at a team in the past, and I found that to be better than 5x8.

dev-ious• 11 years ago

why the paycut ? on average you endup wasting time on meaningless tasks anyway :)

eswat• 11 years ago

Depends of the definition of meaningless tasks. What you cut in money you make up for in wealth. You have more discretionary time to do what you want: work on side projects, doing things you can’t otherwise do outside of work hours on a weekday, and just getting an early recharge so you can be more effective on the days you do work.

jasonkester• 11 years ago

I did this with my current gig. It is every bit as good as you might imagine. Do it if you can.

I had the advantage of working on a contract basis, so there was never really any negotiation involved. I informed them that I'd be dropping down to four day weeks, so it followed that my invoices would reflect that. No big deal. Not so much as a word of objection.

There are a few nice things about being in the single best market for developer talent in the history of ever. Being able to prioritise quality of life in ways like this is definitely one of them.

simonebrunozzi• 11 years ago

Nice to hear that. Care to share a few more details on how you got to that position in the first place?

gregkerzhner• 11 years ago

Did the same thing with my current freelance gig. Overall, this a huge benefit to freelancing in general. When I was working full time, a change like this would involve discussions with several layers of management, cosiderations of how this would fit in with "company culture" (not well, in my experience). Freelancing, it took one 10 minute chat.

yetanotheracc• 11 years ago

Officially, I do four-day week / 0.8 of the pay. Actually, if I finish the tasks I set for the day in one hour, I end the day. If I do not finish them in four hours, I also end the day. It is awesome.

camhenlin• 11 years ago

I only work 20 hours a week. Money is a little tight at times but it gives me plenty of time to work on my own personal projects such as car restoration of my own projects on github.

chrisBob• 11 years ago

The problem is that health care is usually provided by the employer and they are not required to offer benefits if you work 30 hours a week. If there was a good way around this then I would love to work 75% time but you are likely to end up with just over 50% of the effective pay.

kyllo• 11 years ago

Currently, no, but once I have kids I will wish I could do this in order to spend more time with them. I wouldn't want to work fewer days though, I would prefer to work five six-hour days a week so I could get home earlier.

mlwarren• 11 years ago

I would prefer this.

whatok• 11 years ago

I would love to get paid 75% for half the amount of time I spend at work.

andyhnj• 11 years ago

I'd love to be able to shift into this mode temporarily, assuming I could keep my health insurance. Maybe for a few months, just to give myself some breathing room, maybe make progress on some side projects, or do some volunteer work.

Ask HN: How many of you would prefer a 30-hour workweek, with 3/4 of the pay?

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