Gas Prices Ushering In Four-Day Workweeks?

More And More Companies, Gov't. Agencies Trying Them To Save Money For Selves, Workers

(CBS)  The daily grind -- driving to work five days a week -- is grinding a hole in motorists' pocketbooks with gas prices topping $4 a gallon and showing no signs of heading south anytime soon.

One solution being given a shot by a growing number of companies and government agencies, reports CBS News correspondent Bianca Solorzano, is the four-day workweek.

"(Driving to work is) a lot of out-of-pocket expense before you make any money," noticed one driver.

Under a four-day workweek, Solorzano explains, people put in their usual 40 hours spread over four days instead of five -- and save on the cost of driving on that fifth day.

"If the 20th century was about the five-day workweek, nine-to-five (p.m.), the 21st century is going to be about flexibility," says Michelle Conlin, working life editor of BusinessWeek magazine.

But, she adds, four-day weeks aren't for everyone: "Certainly, for manufacturing lines, for retail, for 24-hour customer service support and things like that, this isn't applicable."

Still, it saves an employee of a Nashville, Tenn. dental office trying it $25 a week.

At Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, Ark., four-day workweeks are in effect for the summer. The campus shuts down on Fridays, saving the school 10 percent on utilities -- not to mention gas money for students and employees.

"When you have things happen in your economy that are as powerful or difficult to deal with as $4 gasoline, it makes you rethink a lot of your strategies," observes Dr. Glen Fenter, president if Mid-South CC.

Some government agencies are switching, as well, and even more are considering it.

Suffolk County, N.Y. just launched a pilot program after a unanimous vote by its lawmakers.


"If we have one-fifth fewer drivers on the road, nationwide, we can save 1.6 million barrels of oil a day," points out Suffolk Legislator Wayne Horsley.

It's also being mulled, among others, by New Mexico for state employees. Gov. Bill Richardson chatted about it with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Wednesday.

To see Solorzano's report and the Richardson interview, click on the arrow in the image below:

[timetrips1]

I drive 40 miles to work one-way, so working only 4 days saves over 2 gallons a week. That adds up to over $400 a year in savings. I''m actually working 9 hour shifts with one day off every other week and tele-working one day every other week. This is a nice solution for me as it doesn''t extend the work day so much but I still save one day of driving per week.

[gkc99]

In "socialistic" Europe, work weeks are well under 40 hours--like 35 hours--and the people all get 5-6 weeks per year vacation.

Too bad our "leaders" in American think American working people are coolie labor they can just treat like sheeyit.

Wait! We are!

[maiingan]

The 4-day workweek would be a lot better if it meant that Americans who''ve been trying to get jobs but are rebuffed, would at long last be allowed to rejoin the workforce.

[kofiananimus]

If people working 4 days a week staggered which weekday they took off, it could improve traffic too, leading to fewer gas-wasting delays.

[questionnews]

In "socialistic" Europe, work weeks are well under 40 hours--like 35 hours--and the people all get 5-6 weeks per year vacation.

Too bad our "leaders" in American think American working people are coolie labor they can just treat like sheeyit.

Wait! We are!

Posted by gkc99 at 11:57 AM : Jun 18, 2008

I work with a few European folks and they are surprised at the lack of vacation time allowed in the US. Although they very much like the tax rates in America. They way they calculated it, the money they get to keep because of low taxes pays for the extra days off they take during the year. (The Boss doesn''t mind if they take time off if it''s slow.)

It''s not surprising to see people envy the vacation time alloted to employees in Europe. It''s difficult to just pick up & move there though because most European countries actually have & enforce thier immigration policies.

[missingamerica]

"Under a four-day workweek, Solorzano explains, people put in their usual 40 hours spread over four days instead of five -- and save on the cost of driving on that fifth day."

lollll...Today''s oh-so-generous, pension-voiding, health insurance-canceling corporations are going to allow a 4-day, 40-hour work week...sure, uh-huh.

More like split the jobs up between two people who are both scheduled to work 20 hours, thereby saving the corporations from having to pay benefits at all and also giving them huge buffers before overtime laws kick in.

Hell, I''ll even be nice and say that - thanks to the imports of Wal-Mart and the free trade treaties of Wal-Mart''s Clinton - it may be a necessity to help our remaining American manufacturers and technology service providers remain competitive...

[newsreader57]

What do people do who have children in daycare. They have to be picked up at a certain time. It is hard enough to get there on time to pick them up as it is.

[pat1967-2009]

Allowed to rejoin the workforce???

You make it sound like there is some kind of conspiracy keeping people out of the workforce. If a worker has a skill that is in demand and has a record of good work habits, he or she will get a job. I would not hire someone for the sake of giving them a job. It is neither my, nor the fault of business, that people sometimes choose not to learn what is required to gain employment. In general, young students need to pull their collective head out of you know where and learn math, grammar, science, etc. to gain a competitive edge over their rivals for employment. There are a lot of hungry people out there willing to do what is required to keep a job in the current marketplace. It%u2019s just a fact of life.

[scotch41-2009]

The 4-day workweek would be a lot better if it meant that Americans who''''ve been trying to get jobs but are rebuffed, would at long last be allowed to rejoin the workforce.

Posted by maiingan at 12:37 PM : Jun 18, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
they are rebuffed for a reason...

[scotch41-2009]

What do people do who have children in daycare. They have to be picked up at a certain time. It is hard enough to get there on time to pick them up as it is.

Posted by newsreader57 at 12:56 PM : Jun 18, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That is a real problem...Even if daycare centers went to 12 hour days, that is a long time for a kid to be in daycare....

[ianlou]

This sounds like something that could benifit the American middle class, I''m confident that our Republican leadership will find a way to put a stop to this.

[lochlan-2009]

Then they will ask Americans to do fifty hour work weeks since they can make more money in fifty hours and pay those gas bills.

Do you know why Hitler and his goons made the Jews work so hard doing nothing, because that made them to tired and disoriented to resist their authority.

[gkc99]

Well there won''t be any changes as long as the Repugs are in power because:

(1) they like it when the oil companies, big Repug donors, keep sucking the people dry;

(2) they think the reason we all work is to make Bushit''s Billionaires even richer;

(3) give the peasants a little time and they might start getting uppity and thinking they know better than the International Episcopalian Power Elite Conspiracy does;

(4) if you don''t like it, you can be replaced by a chinese import.

[future121]

I am retired from a job which i was chained for 25 years to a desk 1 1/2 hrs from home for 5-7 days a week. In the last 5 years my job was done from home & work. I convinced my employer I could the job better, safer from my home. I was more relaxed, did not waste time or fuel and because i was not to tired form driving 3 hrs a day I did better and more work than from my "office desk". This is a great idea 4 day work week for those employers who lack trust in their emplyeee or have need for control. For those who think out side the box (cubical) telecommuniting where productivity and not "showed up for work" is what really counts.

[pepperwood2]

It''s about time! We''re destroying the planet with our excessive carbon footprint. Al Gore has the right idea. The World has tooooo much excessive consuming going on out there. This is only a small part of it.

The Global Warming Agenda must act fast to save our planet. We need to get more Companies, Countrys & World Leaders to get involved. Here in USA we''ve encouraged consumers to use less. It doesn''t take a rocket scientist, world governments, & economies to come together as we have recently to raise to excess the cost of oil, electricity, coal, gas, food, medical products to force the consumer to cut back. It takes awhile for Congress to pass the necessary laws. But here at home its starting to work.

Ask yourselves this question? The Earth has survived trillions of years until Man came on the scene & now we''re destroying it. We''ve only just begun to get serious about this. You''ve ain''t seen nothing yet.

If Al can do it so can we. According to the Global Warming reports its time for a real change in the way we do business. Excessive costs for energy, & basic necessities is just starting to work out quite nicely.

[antoniof123]

This sounds like something that could benifit the American middle class, I''''m confident that our Republican leadership will find a way to put a stop to this.

Posted by ianlou at 01:08 PM : Jun 18, 2008

They already have been for a long time now. In fact in some companies they tell you that it make require weekend work. Just find a Reactionary and they will tell you how well it is working keeping people with just enought to not survive.

[mycomment-2009]

France''s work week was shortened to 35 hours because of high unemployment. It didn''t create new jobs. It has been a dismal failure and was recently abolished for most intent and purposes.

[questionnews]

The Earth has survived trillions of years until Man came on the scene & now we''''re destroying it.


Posted by pepperwood2 at 02:23 PM : Jun 18, 2008

The entire universe is only around 15 billion years old. Does Earth predate the universe??
And besides the Earth (actually it''s lifeform)has essentially been destroyed dozens of times in it''s history. (Unless you are a bible thumping environmentalist, in that case the earth has only been around a couple thousand years)

[von_marko]

With gasoline topping $4 a gallon, President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling

Congressional Democrats were quick to reject the push for lifting the drilling moratorium

Way to go Obama, Lets shoot for $99 a GALLON! Yeah Baby love those dumbocrats!

[darnedsocks]

THE WORKWEEK SHOULD BE REVISED TO 4 DAYS A WEEK, 6 HOURS A DAY...ESPECIALLY SINCE COMPANIES CAN''T PROVIDE RAISES. IT WOULD ALSO OPEN UP OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE A LOT OF PART-TIME JOBS FOR THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK.

ANY ANYONE WHO WORKS ON A COMPUTER, DEFINITELY SHOULD BE MADE TO STAY AT HOME AND USE VPN!

[bobnjersey]

[The daily grind -- driving to work five days a week -- is grinding a hole in motorists'' pocketbooks with gas prices topping $4 a gallon and showing no signs of heading south anytime soon. ]

keeping people at work for a continuous 40 hours would save on gas too ... but that doesn''t necessarily mean it would be a good idea.

[pentruck]

It doesn''t matter if they have people working 2 days a week, because people are not going to stay at home they are going to go or bust I drive a truck for a living and it seems the higher gas goes the more traffic there is.Ppeople will go just to prove to who ever that they can, if they cut back to 4 days it will cost people more because at least when they go to work they are parked,but if they have an extra day off it will be lets go to the beach or mickey mouse land we''ve got 3 days off now
they are not going to stay at home if everyone would just stay at home 1 day a week it would save millions of gals of fuel but that would be fighting a losing battle thanks for your time

[noloyalisti]

Time to nationalize the oil companies like Hugo did. Oil is too important a resource to leave in the hands of war-mongering conservative extremists who run the oil companies (and now the government).

Time to pull the plug on the occupation for oil in Iraq. No more troops for Exxon!!!!

[kevsan1]

I would stay home - I could finally get caught up on stuff - would take about a year to get caught up! As for VPN - many IT departments hate it and do not allow it and they even block it. The ones that do have restrictions and you have to answer a bunch of questions as to why you need it. Security at all costs for many IT folks - keep the hackers out.

[biostain]

b48151 said:

If you want even higher gas prices,just simply vote democratic.
-----------------------------


No, if you want the highest gas prices, you need to elect someone with oil industry backgrounds (like Cheney/Bush) and lots of crony friends/investments in same industry (like Cheney/Bush). I think it was Bill Maher that said we''d be crucifying Col. Sanders if fried chicken tripled in price under his administration.

[von_marko]

With gasoline topping $4 a gallon, President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling

Congressional Democrats were quick to reject the push for lifting the drilling moratorium

Way to go Obama, Lets shoot for $99 a GALLON! Yeah Baby love those dumbocrats!

[lochlan-2009]

If you want even higher gas prices,just simply vote democratic.


Posted by b48151

Yeah, but voting republican worked so well for the last eight years.

[vietnam21]

Congressional Democrats were quick to reject the push for lifting the drilling moratorium, saying oil companies already have 68 million acres offshore waters under lease that are not being developed.

BUNCH OF MORON ....

[homeshopper2]

Is that pepperwood or **********???? You treehugging greenies are a bunch of morans!! If you like walking or riding a bicycle you do just that, I on the otherhand prefer to drive something comfortable like a roomy SUV. We need to drill for oil here quick shipping oil that we do acquire here and quit sending it to China and elsewhere. As for Al Gore and living in the State of Tn and yes I did say living here which he really never has if you believe in Al Gore you are really an imbecile his carbon footprint just went up 10% from last year. He doesn''t practice what he preaches, he owns or is affliated with the company that sells carbon offsets. Are you folks out there brain dead from birth or is it something you have recently had happen to you? I have lived in TN all of my life folks here doesn''t like Al Gore, he lost his own state in the election, but if you want to make him richer go right ahead I''m sure he apreciates it. Whatever happened to the last scare of the ice age? Humm! another gimick, you know maybe this is a test to see just how stupid the public really is. If this is any indication we are definetely in trouble.

[darnedsocks]

THE WORKWEEK SHOULD BE REVISED TO 4 DAYS A WEEK, 6 HOURS A DAY...ESPECIALLY SINCE COMPANIES CAN''''T PROVIDE RAISES. IT WOULD ALSO OPEN UP OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE A LOT OF PART-TIME JOBS FOR THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK.

ANY ANYONE WHO WORKS ON A COMPUTER, DEFINITELY SHOULD BE MADE TO STAY AT HOME AND USE VPN!

[mecury69]

Name calling (tree hugging greenies) is pretty embarrassing in this day and age. It may have been cool in the 90''s or when people were in school harassing and bullying others.

But this is the time when this country has to look to the future and it''s not via old technologies like oil based engines and machinery.

Common sense tell you that oil is going to run out and we need to get off the juice sooner rather than later.

Drive your big SUV loud and proud and shove it in the face of the treehuggers.

Then think about the arab who has more money that he can spend laughing it up at the stupid, infintile American oil addicts.

You think BIG in terms of cars, now think BIG in terms of IDEAS!

[omded]

Homeshopper2,
If you''re going to call people names that insult their itelligence, it''s kind of important to make sure you spell those names correctly. I believe you were trying to call people who don''t agree with you "morons", but, by calling them "morans", it doesn''t put a lot of credibility behind your assertation about their intelligence.

That said, the idea of increasing domestic oil production would, at best, bring relief that is only partial, and, most of all, TEMPORARY. Increasing domestic oil production is not a solution to the problem of higher gas prices. The most you could hope it to do is postpone the inevitable day when we''ll all need to conserve our fossil fuels. Conservation is something both you and I will need to get used to.

[noloyalisti]

How can you morons blame Dems for this? Sounds like right wing wackos hit job logic (an oxymoron if ever I heard one). Bush and his neo con men crime family are responsible for this energy policy. They are responsible for fabricating a fraudulent war of terror by allowing the 911 attacks.

And these idiots want four more years with McSame so that the immoral occupation for oil can continue. Go figure.

[ixoye_02]

Some folks like to blanket blame anyone who doesn''t go for offshore drilling and exploration. And are too stupid to notice that some republicans also won''t go for the moratorium on offshore drilling. These are the same folks who think that oil is an infinite commodity and that expanding oil infrastructure is the way to go even if it takes 5-10 years to see any relief from oil prices if the US built more refineries. So, we invest in billions of dollars towards building more refineries and drilling/extracting any remaining oil offshore or in ANWR, only to find that the oil supply will dry up within a decade....I would ask, is that being smart and strategic about energy sources OR is this just being short-sighted and foolish to keep oil as a major energy source? I tend to ignore these folks because their arguments are ridiculous and not worth addressing directly.

[armydog2]

offshore drilling or even drilling in Alaska will not change the price of gas,enron loopholes and excessive commodity speculations are what is driving up the price of oil. if you think these oil companies will give up their profits because of offshore drilling think again. bush has f-u-c-k-e-d us all over for his oil buddies and himself.

[keithle1]

Give people as many options as possible. So long as they do their 40 hours a week what does the boss man care? Encourage telework. Some people drive 50 miles each way to the office. Gas is $4.33 a gallon for regular in my neighborhood. Maybe it will be $5 by Xmas. I use public transportation to get to work.