One of the ideas that has captured many peoples\u2019 attention amid the flurry of proposals ahead of the economic roundtable is the Australian Council of Trade Unions\u2019 vision of a four-day working week.<\/p>\n
The peak union body argued that working less could actually be productivity enhancing, although the studies behind those claims aren\u2019t too rigorous.<\/p>\n
While many Australians would certainly welcome a three-day weekend, Jim Chalmers has made it clear that working towards a national four-day working week is not on the government\u2019s agenda, while reaffirming Labor\u2019s commitment to flexible work.<\/p>\n
Employer groups have been scathing, and it\u2019s not likely to be a big discussion point on day two of the three-day roundtable.<\/p>\n
Clearly not on board with the treasurer\u2019s \u201copen hearts and open minds\u201d approach to this week\u2019s talkfest, the Australian Industry Group\u2019s chief executive, Innes Willox, called the four-day working week idea \u201canother populist, anti-productivity thought bubble\u201d.<\/p>\n
A smaller share of full-time workers are doing long hours (more than 50 hours a week) from about 25% of FT workers in 2000 to about 15% in 2025.<\/a><\/p>\n Willox calculated that at the current dismal rate of productivity growth it would take 26 years to get to the point where we could drop a day\u2019s work without going backwards economically.<\/p>\n But as the ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, explained to the Conversation\u2019s Michelle Grattan: <\/a>the labour movement doesn\u2019t expect a revolution in the working week to happen overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be clear, we weren\u2019t asking for a change to the workplace laws for the government to do something,\u201d McManus said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were raising this in the context of a discussion both around productivity and around AI as an important part of the distribution of the benefits of productivity growth or, for that matter, productivity growth out of less jobs, out of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n The longer arc of Australian history has been towards shorter working weeks and longer holidays. But that progress stopped a few decades back, settling on the current set-up of a 38-hour full-time job, two-day weekend and four weeks\u2019 paid leave.<\/p>\n But there has been progress in other ways (assuming \u201cprogress\u201d is working less \u2013 many believe hard work is an end in and of itself).<\/p>\n