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Comment by GordonS | Hacker News Reader

I switched to a 4-day work week several years ago (maybe 7 or 8, forget), taking. 20% pay cut. Ot really does feel like such a better work-life balance - as you say, it's a much bigger increase in personal time than it is a decrease in working hours.

And I am just as productive as when I worked 5 days a week!

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I did the exact same thing. It was amazing and well worth the 4/5ths pay. My mental health was improved and the only thing that made me eventually leave was that i was offered 3x the pay to work at a FAANG.

Startups trying to compete for talent should probably take note of the fact that it took 3x more pay for them to poach staff, not 20% more. I'm not saying you'll get away with paying 3x less but you also won't have to worry about losing staff if you're in the ballpark since the 4 day work week is that valuable to anyone lucky enough to have experienced it.

where can one find such 4-day work week jobs? Jobs listed on most portals are either full-time or part-time (contract basis)

It was a startup and they were flexible when i asked to work for 4/5ths pay for 4/5ths workload.

It should probably be a norm but right now it's ad-hoc for companies to support it in order to retain staff.

A lot of smaller companies are open to it once you've worked there and proven yourself.

My current and prior jobs have people in 3-4 day a week roles. But the people in those roles are senior contributors whose value to the company is as much knowledge as it is contributions.

I would argue that while this is true, equally sometimes at interview you can be in a good negotiating position too, that's when they've decide they want you. Sometimes being wiling to work for a little bit under what they'd have been willing to pay, sweetens the deal. I mean, don't ask for 4 day week AND top dollar salary at the same time.. unless you're a proven superstar. ;)

https://4dayweek.io

I started with a regular 5-day week, but here in the UK (and I think the rest of Europe), companies have to give proper consideration to requests for flexible working. So all I did was ask HR, and they said it was fine.

This is better than the math looks, as the 20% you lose is taxed at your highest marginal rates. Your take home difference is probably closer to 12% which is much more palatable.

> And I am just as productive as when I worked 5 days a week!

For 20% less compensation! I'd rather do the 4-10s for full pay, without the pressure to get 40 hours of work done in 32 hours.

For me at least, it doesn't feel like pressure to get more done in less time - it's more like I'm a bit more focussed (e.g. less time on HN!), don't over-think things as much, and am more adamant about not attending meetings I don't need to be in.

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