Some Stuff Rattling in My Brain This Morning

[dewline]

1. So there's this café on Somerset West that I've visited once and would like to revisit at some point after things re-settle enough and I have a steady day-job again. Apt613 published a profile on their reopening process that got my attention.

2. Some opinions held by neighbours across the city to consider re: how to finance...police or public safety or whatever we end up calling the service from now on. And to what ends.

3. Photography as Food Bank fundraiser during the Time of Pandemic.

4. The Four-Day Work Week may be a reality for more people from now on. Taylor Blewett at Postmedia Ottawa (AKA the Ottawa Citizen) reports on one company's leaning into that direction. I suspect it's not going to be a thing every employer can or should do, but it might be helpful in some ways.

5. Yes, I'm still job-hunting. And doing laundry. More later.

Comments

[thewayne]

I've always thought a four-day work week would be an excellent way to increase meaningful employment, which is not what the gig economy is. The problem is that with middle-class wages having been stagnant for over three decades, four now, employers would chop wages 20% and you'd have problems with work continuity for many professions and it just doesn't seem practical. Never mind Microsoft's very successful experiment in Japan, reported on a couple of months ago. It could also have been a country/cultural phenomena.

[dewline]

A lot of employers would do exactly as you and I fear they might. The other issues...well, those are things that do need attention of their own.

As for the Japanese angle? There are companies in the US and Canada that made similar changes and - last I heard before the Pandemic - those firms and their employees were thriving. I'll have to dig a little to rediscover which cases were public knowledge. There were reports on CBC News and Radio One.