Valuetainment

00:00:00.040 4-Day Work Week. Good idea, bad idea. I asked this on Twitter. 25,000 people voted for it.

00:00:05.040 Do they care about it? Is it a bad idea? Is it a good idea? The results will probably surprise you.

00:00:18.900 So I gotta tell you, I was surprised because my audience is generally entrepreneurs, CEOs, C-suite.

00:00:23.260 Most of these guys are in business. A lot of them are more than the average person.

00:00:26.180 I thought the numbers were going to be fully a horrible idea, but this is what happened.

00:00:30.000 22.5% said they don't care. 23% said bad idea. 54.6% said it is a good idea.

00:00:38.240 I don't know about you, but I'm blown away by the results.

00:00:40.140 4-Day Work Week, what do you want to do with the 3 days? Is it good for you?

00:00:42.820 Is it even healthy for you to have more time on your hands?

00:00:44.820 When do we have more free time? Do we live longer? Are we more fulfilled?

00:00:47.460 Is it worse for us? You'd be amazed by the results, by the way.

00:00:49.900 We got a lot of different data. I want to see if any other country did the 4-Day Work Week.

00:00:52.980 Did they get good results? When we did that, we found out which country in the world

00:00:55.940 works the least amount of hours a week. By the way, it's 29 hours.

00:00:58.700 I'll tell you here in a minute who it is. And then maybe it's some industries.

00:01:01.640 I'll give you my argument. You make a decision for yourself. Having said that, let's get right into it.

00:01:05.380 So before we go into some of these countries that are testing a 4-Day Work Week, let's define success.

00:01:09.460 What is success here? Is it success just having more time?

00:01:12.200 Well, then countries that do that and are giving to people more time, that's called successful to you.

00:01:16.660 But it's success more countries that are doing a model that produces more companies,

00:01:21.520 that generate jobs, that create better innovation.

00:01:24.620 If that's success, well, a lot of these countries that are doing a 4-Day Work Week, you get an F in it.

00:01:28.440 First, I believe we have to define what success is, and then we'll look at the data.

00:01:31.960 So now when I give you some of these countries, I'm also going to give you what companies they've founded there,

00:01:35.900 what technologies have been started there, and then you can say,

00:01:38.240 well, based on your definition, Patrick, I disagree with you.

00:01:41.040 I think they're doing it better.

00:01:42.300 Or, based on your definition, I think this 4-Day Work Week is a terrible idea.

00:01:45.780 So Australia, number one, more than 20 companies will take part of a 4-Day Work Week trial.

00:01:49.640 This is something they've been testing.

00:01:50.920 They're calling it the 4-Day Week Global, which is a nonprofit organization that's also overseeing pilots in UK and New Zealand.

00:01:57.140 And FYI, Australia, two big names, technology-wise, that have came out of there.

00:02:01.560 One is Wi-Fi, 1992, and the other one is Google Maps, which was invented by Danish brothers in Australia, later bought by Google.

00:02:09.460 All right, that's their innovation.

00:02:10.860 Austria.

00:02:11.420 According to an OECD report, Austria has the sixth shortest average work week in the world, 35.5 hours a week.

00:02:17.300 A lot of people would say they were already doing that.

00:02:18.900 And although Austria hasn't instituted a 4-Day Work Week, many Austrian workers are interested in the idea.

00:02:24.580 Matter of fact, they surveyed people to ask who was interested in it.

00:02:27.360 One out of every two workers said they would welcome a 4-Day Work Week.

00:02:31.340 So now, let's define success.

00:02:32.720 Austria, you ready?

00:02:33.520 Most innovative company they have started in the last 30-something years is called Pez Candy.

00:02:37.800 You ever seen Pez Candy?

00:02:38.760 You probably had it before.

00:02:39.640 You know what their top-line revenue was last year?

00:02:41.580 29 million bucks.

00:02:42.980 Yes, $29 million.

00:02:44.500 That's innovation.

00:02:45.220 If that's success to you, well, maybe the 4-Day Work Week is a great idea.

00:02:48.580 Let's go to the next country, Belgium.

00:02:49.980 Workers in Belgium now have the right to switch to a 4-Day Work Week, but they're working for 10-hour days, which is a total of 40 hours a week.

00:02:56.280 And although workers in Belgium have traditionally worked a 5-Day Work Week, in early 2022, Belgian government introduced a new labor market reform that allows workers to choose to work a 4-Day Work Week.

00:03:05.940 Workers are still expected to maintain the same amount of hours, but now have the option to work for 10-hour days.

00:03:10.680 Workers are allowed to ask their employers for a 6-month trial period of the 4-Day Work Week, after which they can choose to go back to the traditional 5-Day Work Week.

00:03:18.160 That's Belgium.

00:03:18.580 By the way, if I were to ask you, what innovation has Belgium done in the last 30 years or something?

00:03:22.920 You're going to say, well, they got the best beer, and they got great candy, and they got great this, and they got Anheuser-Busch, and they got...

00:03:28.200 Yeah, maybe.

00:03:29.200 But no real crazy innovation that impacted other countries positively.

00:03:33.420 Again, how do you define success?

00:03:35.300 Next, Canada, population 38 million.

00:03:37.160 Dozens of companies in Canada are experimenting with a 4-Day Work Week as part of the 4-Day Work Week Global Pilot.

00:03:42.680 In early 2022, Canada began the 4-Day Work Week trial, just to kind of see how it's going to work out.

00:03:47.120 Well, the goal of the program is to demonstrate that employees can maintain 100% of productivity while working 20 fewer hours and receiving the same amount of pay.

00:03:54.280 I don't know.

00:03:54.800 Give me innovation from Canada.

00:03:56.020 Google?

00:03:56.520 Facebook?

00:03:57.080 Apple?

00:03:57.600 Who?

00:03:58.360 Who from Canada?

00:03:59.320 Don't know.

00:03:59.760 Is Canada known as the innovation capital of the world?

00:04:02.960 Probably not.

00:04:03.700 How do you define success?

00:04:04.840 Let's go to the next country.

00:04:05.860 Denmark, population 5.8 million.

00:04:07.760 According to an OECD report, Denmark has the second shortest average work week in the world, 33 hours a week.

00:04:13.220 If you like working only 33 hours a week, go to Denmark.

00:04:15.800 They tested this to see what was going to happen.

00:04:17.860 This allowed full-time workers in Denmark to spend 66% of their day on rest and leisure.

00:04:24.340 By the way, they switched to a 5-Day Work Week model in the 30s.

00:04:27.420 Previously, it was a 6-Day Work Week.

00:04:28.980 And now, what did Denmark invent?

00:04:31.240 I got to give these guys props.

00:04:32.880 Legos.

00:04:33.440 I love Legos.

00:04:34.180 So, listen, Denmark, if you're going to work 33 hours a week and still produce the Legos, you keep doing what you're doing right now.

00:04:39.720 Leave the innovation to other countries.

00:04:41.160 Next, Germany.

00:04:42.160 Population, 83.2 million people.

00:04:44.020 In addition to having one of the shortest work weeks in the world, 34 hours, Germany's largest trade union is lobbying for Germany to adopt a 40-year work week.

00:04:50.440 Since 2020, Germany has faced economic difficulties from both the pandemic and the struggles to transition to electric vehicles.

00:04:55.700 What kind of innovation has Germany produced? 0.56

00:04:57.680 Obviously, they got the cars.

00:04:58.560 We all know the cars that they produce.

00:04:59.820 But airbags, the C-Lag, the chip on your credit card, the MP3 format.

00:05:03.340 That's what Germany has done. 0.87

00:05:04.360 Is it a good idea to go to a 4-Day Work Week and only work 34 hours a week?

00:05:07.620 That's what Germany wants to do. 0.86

00:05:08.820 That's what Germany wants to do. 0.86

00:05:09.820 It doesn't necessarily make it a good idea.

00:05:11.140 Here's another one for you.

00:05:11.960 Iceland.

00:05:12.280 They got 372,000 people living there.

00:05:14.500 The largest pilot of a 4-Day Work Week took place in Iceland with two and a half people taking part of the study.

00:05:19.260 Iceland is one of the countries most in support of the 4-Day Work Week between 2015 and 2019.

00:05:23.620 Iceland led one of the largest 4-Day Work Week pilots.

00:05:26.540 The trial was considered a huge success and has resulted in a huge shift in Iceland's standard working hours with 90% of the population currently enjoying reduced hours or other work modifications.

00:05:36.460 Fantastic.

00:05:37.220 Let's move to Iceland.

00:05:38.380 And anyways, awesome job, Iceland.

00:05:43.800 Proud of you guys.

00:05:44.480 This next one's going to surprise you because it's Japan.

00:05:46.280 126 billion people living there.

00:05:48.060 The government released their annual economic policy in 2021, which recommended that companies let staff work four days a week instead of five.

00:05:54.540 Although in the past, Japan has been known for an intense working culture.

00:05:57.440 Recently, the country has released a new guidelines encouraging this.

00:06:00.240 The 4-Day Work Week has been proposed in the past and implemented by some companies, such as Microsoft Japan.

00:06:04.720 However, the COVID-19 pandemic, ready for this?

00:06:06.900 And a labor shortage in the country moved the government to promote it as a nationwide guideline.

00:06:12.000 The goal of the 4-Day Work Week guideline is to support employee wellness, family time, and social life, help the country's labor shortage.

00:06:17.220 What they've invented, ready?

00:06:18.680 Emojis, Walkman, CDs, DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, jet ski, laptop, 3D printing.

00:06:23.500 There's a lot of different great things that they've done in Japan.

00:06:25.420 But it sounds like COVID, and a lot of people complaining about it, has scared people in Japan to say, instead of losing these employees, get them to work four-day a week.

00:06:32.240 I think it's going to backfire on them.

00:06:33.480 Those of you that want to have a four-day work week, you are going to love this next country.

00:06:37.280 Ready?

00:06:38.040 Netherlands.

00:06:38.840 You know how many hours a week people work in this place?

00:06:41.420 29 hours. 0.96

00:06:43.220 The freaking dream. 0.93

00:06:44.480 Can you imagine living in Netherlands, only work 29 hours a week? 0.61

00:06:48.920 In the Netherlands, citizens now have the right to go part-time in their job unless there's substantial business reasons justifying why they cannot.

00:06:56.560 As a result, workers in Netherlands have the shortest average working week in the world, 29 hours.

00:07:00.400 Although Netherlands doesn't necessarily have a four-day work week, it's the norm for many people, especially working moms. 0.98

00:07:04.880 According to government statistics, 86% of employed moms work less than 35 hours per week.

00:07:09.640 12% of working fathers are also low hours compared to other countries.

00:07:12.980 That's what they have.

00:07:14.060 You know what they've invented?

00:07:14.940 Bluetooth.

00:07:15.660 Netherlands, thank you.

00:07:17.140 So, good idea, bad idea.

00:07:18.520 Again, how do you define success?

00:07:20.020 But, think about it this way.

00:07:21.380 If you go from five days a week to four days a week, you take one on five, that's 20%.

00:07:26.600 What does it mean?

00:07:27.280 You automatically increase the shortage of workers by 20%.

00:07:31.940 So, I, as a company owner, operator, CEO, need to go increase 20% of my employees, pay the same salary so they can make the cost of living,

00:07:41.220 their expenses, family, mortgage, taxes, insurance.

00:07:44.260 How are we going to do this?

00:07:45.040 So, my cost just went up 20% and you want me to still sell the products at a discounted rate?

00:07:50.140 And that means I have to increase my product cost by 20%.

00:07:52.960 So, if the hamburger was 10 bucks, now it's 12 bucks.

00:07:55.200 If the car was 40 grand, now it's 48 grand.

00:07:57.220 Are you okay with that?

00:07:58.160 Well, no, no, no, no, no.

00:07:59.000 That's not what we said.

00:07:59.960 All we said is let people work only four days a week.

00:08:02.180 How do you want me to make the cars?

00:08:03.280 I need workers. 0.98

00:08:04.080 How do you want me to make the technology, the computer, the TV?

00:08:06.700 Four-day work week is a great, noble consideration, but it's going to backfire.

00:08:11.060 Let me give you another one.

00:08:11.820 Industry-wise, could it work in certain industries?

00:08:13.840 Sure, maybe some industries can do this. 0.89

00:08:15.340 Can it work in all industries?

00:08:16.460 There's no way in the world you can work this in all industries.

00:08:18.520 Media, you're about to break a story.

00:08:20.200 No, no, no.

00:08:20.980 Four-day work week.

00:08:21.780 We're not going to break the story because it's a four-day work week.

00:08:24.280 Pat, that's an excuse.

00:08:25.220 You can hire other people that are going to work those days.

00:08:27.240 Exactly.

00:08:27.560 I need to increase labor by 20%.

00:08:29.340 So, what?

00:08:29.840 Why don't you do it?

00:08:30.280 Stop being so greedy.

00:08:31.140 Put the money into the employees.

00:08:32.420 Math doesn't work that way.

00:08:34.740 Have you rent a company?

00:08:36.140 There's this guy who I interviewed, Dan Price, I believe is his name.

00:08:39.120 He said, I'm going to give all my employees $70,000, including myself.

00:08:41.680 It backfired on the guy.

00:08:42.860 Have you read the articles on this guy?

00:08:44.200 Everybody loved him.

00:08:45.280 What a noble man.

00:08:46.720 Backfired.

00:08:47.240 Didn't work out for everybody.

00:08:48.660 Lawsuits from his own family.

00:08:50.360 Issues.

00:08:50.880 HR issues.

00:08:51.800 Doesn't work.

00:08:52.500 But it was a great story for socialists to use, to go variable with.

00:08:55.960 Look at this guy, so noble.

00:08:57.320 Look at these billionaires, so greedy.

00:08:58.700 Right?

00:08:58.920 Okay.

00:08:59.140 Let me continue.

00:08:59.860 I still haven't sold you on it.

00:09:00.900 Can it work at different phases of a company?

00:09:02.700 Maybe.

00:09:03.020 If it's a Fortune 100 company that's worth half a trillion dollars, and they got all the

00:09:06.460 resources, maybe you can.

00:09:08.160 Is it a mid-phase company that's been around for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, a billion

00:09:11.860 dollar company?

00:09:12.440 Maybe you can.

00:09:13.180 Will it work in a startup?

00:09:14.360 Probably not.

00:09:15.040 Do you know what it's like to be part of a startup?

00:09:16.540 Imagine I start a company.

00:09:17.840 Hey guys, we got this idea.

00:09:18.820 We're going to go take over this entire publishing business, and we're going to make books.

00:09:21.740 People buy it online.

00:09:22.620 But don't worry about it.

00:09:24.140 You're only going to work four days a week for 29 hours, because we're a noble company.

00:09:27.760 Let's make this Amazon company work.

00:09:29.460 Really?

00:09:30.320 You really buy that idea?

00:09:31.640 You think it's going to work with startups?

00:09:33.760 What world do you live in if you actually think that's going to become an idea?

00:09:36.580 Here's what's funny.

00:09:38.040 Journalists are convincing people that this is possible, and it's not.

00:09:41.660 They just need an article to write, and politicians say, let's do this because people are going

00:09:45.340 to like it.

00:09:45.720 I'm going to get reelected.

00:09:46.620 Let's keep selling this concept here.

00:09:48.080 Let's go to four-day work week.

00:09:49.480 Catastrophic, again, not in all cases.

00:09:51.240 It's not going to work in startup.

00:09:52.340 Let me give you this other argument.

00:09:53.360 So I'm going to go, Pat, stop it.

00:09:55.160 Oh my God.

00:09:56.300 Why is it all you guys care about is money?

00:09:58.020 No problem.

00:09:58.800 Okay?

00:09:59.180 If you want to pay my bills, I don't have to worry about money.

00:10:01.160 If you want to fulfill my dreams, I don't have to worry about all.

00:10:03.180 But here's a thought for you.

00:10:04.420 As parents, what do parents say that have raised great kids?

00:10:07.180 Keep them busy.

00:10:07.940 Too much time on hand for your kids is not a good thing.

00:10:09.960 Well, why not?

00:10:10.640 Why should kids go to school as much as they do?

00:10:12.640 Maybe we need to give kids more time.

00:10:14.140 Why do they go to school from 8 in the morning to 3 o'clock?

00:10:16.180 Why not make it 8 to 11 o'clock?

00:10:18.700 Give them a bunch of free time.

00:10:19.760 This is not cool.

00:10:20.620 Why are you making it so hard on the kids?

00:10:21.880 We should do the same thing for kids as well.

00:10:23.540 Let them come home. 0.99

00:10:24.900 No, I don't think that's a good idea.

00:10:26.840 Why not?

00:10:27.360 You want a 4-day work week.

00:10:28.300 Let's give kids 4-day work week.

00:10:29.560 No, no.

00:10:30.060 It's better if you keep your kids busy.

00:10:31.880 Because the more you keep them busy and they're doing sports and after-school activities,

00:10:35.420 they don't do drugs, they don't do drugs.

00:10:36.640 It's better.

00:10:37.340 Bingo.

00:10:37.820 I agree.

00:10:38.840 And you agree.

00:10:39.520 You get what I'm saying?

00:10:40.460 Like, hey, more people having more idle time.

00:10:42.500 Is that a good thing?

00:10:43.120 Let me share a study with you by this lady, Cassie McGillner Holmes, who is a psychologist,

00:10:47.560 finding out to see the more time we have in our hands.

00:10:49.520 Are we happy?

00:10:50.040 Are we more fulfilled?

00:10:50.780 Or we're not?

00:10:51.220 Here's what she found out.

00:10:52.140 She did this survey investigating 21,000 Americans who responded to this question, okay?

00:10:56.720 At what point is it good?

00:10:58.280 At what point does it backfire?

00:10:59.480 What she found out is if you have less than two hours of free time, that's not good.

00:11:03.680 This is where you have a lot of stress.

00:11:04.940 Anything between two hours is good.

00:11:07.480 Right when you get about to five hours or more, it's not good, okay?

00:11:11.220 You're not happier.

00:11:12.080 Why?

00:11:12.460 This is how they broke it down.

00:11:13.520 They broke it down less than two hours.

00:11:14.780 You feel like you're anxious because you don't have enough time to get all the other chores done.

00:11:17.540 Anything above five hours, you feel like you're not fulfilled because you're not making a big impact on the world.

00:11:21.500 The idea to make people fulfilled to do better things is not giving them more time.

00:11:26.120 You know what's the last thing I did when I had a lot of time on my hands?

00:11:28.140 My hair was orange.

00:11:29.380 Did you hear what I said?

00:11:30.260 The last time I had a lot of time on my hands, my hair was orange.

00:11:33.520 I was 21 years old.

00:11:34.900 I got out of the army.

00:11:36.020 I was at Venice Beach every flippin' day partying, doing the stuff I was doing.

00:11:39.760 I had way too much time on my hands.

00:11:41.280 Am I better for society?

00:11:42.280 Is that what you want me to do?

00:11:43.180 It's not a good idea.

00:11:43.940 Here's another one for you.

00:11:44.880 Well, Pat, we should get people to retire at 55 years old, not at 65.

00:11:47.960 It's not good.

00:11:48.620 People need to enjoy their retirement.

00:11:50.000 Really?

00:11:50.360 Have you looked at the studies of what happens when people retire early?

00:11:53.100 Have you looked at any of that stuff?

00:11:54.220 Let me do the work for you and share it with you.

00:11:55.580 Early retirement before age of 62 has been associated with higher mortality risk in some instances.

00:12:00.180 In a study of Shell Oil Company, found that those who retire at 55 years old, live to be 65, die 37% sooner than those that retire at 65.

00:12:09.780 And in general, people retire at 55, ready for this one, this is not a good one, are 89% more likely to die within 10 years than those that retire at 65.

00:12:17.920 Social Security has noticed this trend as well.

00:12:20.040 Men that retire at 62 have a 20% higher likelihood of death than the general population.

00:12:25.580 Go ahead.

00:12:26.020 Let's get people to retire less.

00:12:27.220 Let's get kids to go to school from 8 to 11.

00:12:29.320 Let's do 4-day work week.

00:12:30.320 Why 4?

00:12:30.720 Let's go 3 days.

00:12:31.720 These are not ideas that get a person to be fulfilled.

00:12:35.280 Bitterness comes from that I no longer matter.

00:12:37.800 You no longer matter.

00:12:38.680 It's tough to make a big impact when you don't have the right amount of time to do so.

00:12:42.160 By the way, there's going to be a lot of people that are going to disagree with me.

00:12:44.640 And those of you who do, you went to a school and a professor convinced you that this was a good idea.

00:12:49.000 You fell for it.

00:12:49.980 Take your time.

00:12:50.940 You're going to realize it's not a good idea 10, 20 years from now.

00:12:53.060 Anyway, I understand talking about stories that's going to do very well.

00:12:56.320 Let me write a book called 4-Day Work Week or 4-Hour Work Day.

00:12:59.580 And people are going to buy it and it's going to do well.

00:13:00.980 Of course, people don't want to work a lot of hours.

00:13:02.740 When I was younger, I didn't want to work a lot of hours.

00:13:04.460 But I realized life is more valuable if you're in pursuit of something and there's meaning to your life.

00:13:09.880 Just the same way we don't think it's a good idea to have the kids only go to school 8 to 11 and spend the rest of the day with us at the house and not have anything else to do because they get in trouble and you and I did.

00:13:17.920 Just the same way we realize data tells us it's not a good thing to retire too early at 55.

00:13:21.640 Just the same way it's going to be when people realize it's not going to be a good idea for some companies to go to 4-Day Work Week.

00:13:26.660 Will the 4-Day Work Week idea work for certain companies, certain niches, certain ideas, certain industries?

00:13:31.360 Sure.

00:13:31.540 Is it going to work if we define success by innovation and a company that creates jobs and makes things better?

00:13:36.700 No, it's not going to work doing a 4-Day Work Week.

00:13:38.260 By the way, some people might say, I hate my job.

00:13:40.560 Okay.

00:13:41.140 Maybe I understand why you want to work 4 days.

00:13:42.680 But if you've hated the last 10 jobs, it's not the jobs.

00:13:44.900 It's you.

00:13:45.340 You've got to change your mindset.

00:13:46.320 You're the problem.

00:13:47.040 Not the job.

00:13:47.780 Not the industry.

00:13:48.600 Your mindset.

00:13:49.220 People sold you on it.

00:13:49.920 Having said that, I've got two things for you.

00:13:51.240 One, if you want to find out what drives you, I created a quiz here on pbdquiz.com.

00:13:55.100 If you've never taken it, go take it to find out exactly which of the four different factors you're driven by.

00:13:59.780 And the other one is, if you enjoy this content, there's another video I did about five, six years ago titled,

00:14:03.920 How to Reach Your Full Potential.

00:14:05.120 If you've never watched it, click here to watch it.

00:14:06.700 Take care, everybody.

00:14:07.420 Bye-bye, bye-bye.

The Case Against a 4-Day Workweek

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