While Swedes are getting away with working, like, 25 minutes a week, it seems like Canadians are grinding harder than ever.
On top of the societal pressure to wear busy-ness as a badge of honour, our increasingly expensive cities have made side hustles integral to survival. It’s no wonder our generation has time for little else beyond Netflix and brunch.
It should also come as no wonder, then, that many Canadians would love shifting towards a four-day work week. And if it means working longer hours during those four days, so be it. Just give us a three-day weekend, damn it.
According to a new study from Angus Reid, almost half of Canadians (47%) think working 30 hours a week instead of 40 is a good idea. It should be noted here that for many of us, working even 40 hours is a luxury. Three-in-ten, meanwhile, think working 10 fewer hours a week is a bad idea.
Interestingly, if respondents were to continue to work a standard 40-hour week, the majority (68%) would prefer to work four 10-hour shifts instead of working eight hours five times a week.
Unfortunately, Canadians aren’t very optimistic that the amount of time they’ll spend at work is going to decrease anytime soon. In 1985, 50 per cent of Canadians believed they would work no more than three days a week within 20 years. Today, only 13 per cent of Canadians envision the possibility.
Given, however, that the Canadian economy will soon be almost entirely run by robots, it’s very possible that the majority of us will usher in a zero-hour workweek.