from Hacker News

The surprising reason we have a 40-hour work week

by juanrossi on 12/23/13, 9:40 PM with 3 comments

• by adamio on 12/23/13, 10:32 PM

  Anecdote: In a 40hr/week corporate job I was evaluated on time at desk. My managers would tell me I needed to be at my desk more, because upper managers would walk around and check on who was at their desk. These upper managers had come from operations, and had managed production environments their entire careers, and would primarily judge performance on time spent at work. I was hardly ever asked by the upper managers on what I was working on, I wasn't; I just had to be at the desk. Later these managers were given flex time, no set hours. Everyone actually worked longer without set hours. Japanese company.

• by yetanotherphd on 12/23/13, 11:27 PM

  I'm always suspicious of "We do X because..." stories. Just because the world is complex, and almost nothing happens for one specific reason.

  I just can't believe that something so natural and obvious (everyone going to work/leaving at a fixed time) can be attributed to a single CEO and his misguided economic theories.

  He might have provided a nudge in that direction, but I don't believe it was an important factor. And yes, I am too lazy to check.