Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Carlos Slim Calls for 11-Hour Day, 3-Day Work Week

Carlos Slim is the second richest man in the world thanks to his strangle hold on Mexico's mobile phone market and a generally good sense for turning a profit. At a business conference called "Growing Together -- States and Enterprises," held in Asuncion, Paraguay, he called for a 3-day work week composed of 10- or 11-hour work days. He also called for postponing retirement until a worker is in his or her 70s. Both are ideas worth further discussion.

Back in the bad old days, when mankind lived largely as hunters and gatherers, there was no such thing as a work week. Everyday was a struggle for food. Along came agriculture, and the idea of time off emerged. Crops don't grow in winter, so one only had to deal with the animals one kept. And then an aristocratic class emerged that decided it would simply live off the labor of others. The leisure class as Thorstein Veblen described them has persisted ever since. However, everyone benefited from a more secre food supply. Even medieval peasants got Sundays and religious feast days off.

Industrialization broke that rhythm of life, and people worked in factories 12 from sun rise to past sunset everyday of the week. Unions and democratic governments reined that abuse in, and now the 8-hour day, five-day week and vacation time are standard. However, there is nothing sacred about any of it.

Lord Keynes wrote a short and largely forgotten tract called the Economic Possibilities of our Grandchildren. In it, he argued that abundance was on the way, and mankind had a choice between consuming ever more goods and enjoying more leisure time. He guessed that his grandchildren would opt for more free time. Thus far, that has not been the case.

But that doesn't mean he was wrong, merely that he has yet to be proved correct. On the assembly line, productivity and activity are tightly correlated. In an information economy, hours can be burnt up with nothing to show for the effort. Other times, a few minutes' thinking results in the multi-billion dollar insight. Moreover, the assembly line required everyone to be present at the same time. Now, business gets done at any hour from any place. Thus, time and profit are less entwined. So, the forty-hour, five day week could change without any negative effect on productivity.

Mr. Slim said, "Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied." It clearly offers a new approach to the work-life balance so many worry about. And it might create jobs in those industries like retail that would need staff to address the extra demand.

As for delaying retirement into one's 70s, that is not feasible for some of the more physically demanding professions. Miners, for example, may physically not be able to hold off. Middle management paper-pushers most certainly can. At the same time, delaying does offer a partial solution to the problem of some retirees who can't fill their time easily.

A three-day week has its merits, and a 10-hour day is what many work already. Some may worry about a decline in productivity and profitability, but careful examination and experimentation will reveal the truth. One suspects that the 40-hour week has more than a little bit of wasted time anyway. A four-day week of 8 hours might be preferable, or simply a reduction to 6 hours with a five-day week. And most likely, a combination of all of these. One size doesn't fit all, so forcing it to fit is silly.

© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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