Is the 40-Hour Work Week Model Practical and Sustainable?

A TikTok is going viral for its fascinating challenge of the status quo. Emily Ballesteros, a burnout management coach who makes videos full of advice and career counseling on her page, explained the (condensed) origins of the 40-hour work week in a video, detailing how Henry Ford established the format as a way to include established rest for employees. But since then, she goes on, 40 hour weeks have been the norm, despite it not necessarily yielding productivity for other industries. In a subsequent video, she suggested a few solutions, but reiterated that hours worked should be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on what's being accomplished.

Brigitte Carreiro
by Brigitte Carreiro
Nov 16, 2020