Just like remote work, this turns into a culture war issue every time (and the comments turn into a cesspit). I really wish people would stop arguing and let the market show us what's actually more effective.
The market is strongly influenced by the culture though. For example nothing now is actually different to before covid. The only thing that has changed is the culture - people like working from home and are less willing to give it up.
Working hours is simply a negotiation between employers (who obviously want more hours for the same price), and workers (who want the opposite). Again culture has a large influence on that - it's very difficult to persuade people to work 6 days a week (in the West) because culturally we no longer do that.
You can't ignore culture and just say "let the market decide" because culture is part of the market.
Sure, but the point I'm making is that figuring out whether this stuff works is easy - you let companies decide, you let them fairly pay employees, and you see which companies turn out on top.
> "let the market show us what's actually more effective"
I am not sure what are the mechanisms for that. Would that simply be what maximizes short term profits?
It sort of sounds like a suggestion to remove all restrictions on the work week so that the free market can choose the winning system.
Why not decide instead to take a more human approach where people can work productively and still have enough workless time to rest and be healthy and also have time and energy for hobbies, family, exercise, etc.?
