So is this "work 32 hours, get paid 40" kind of four-day work week, or a "you can decide how many contract hours you have" kind of four-day work week? I feel like it's important to make this distinction, because not working 40 hours / week is normalized where I live (about half the working population works part-time), with lots of people opting for 36 hours (then 4x9 for one day a week off, or 5x8 and 4x8 for one day per two weeks off), 32 hours (4x8), or less (e.g. two parents alternating work days to look after the kids, or minimize day care / grandparents).
Anyway that's a long-winded way of saying, flexibility in contracts isn't too challenging. It's maintaining decent pay at the same time that the US seems to have trouble with, with some people having to balance multiple different jobs simultaneously because none is offering a stable 40ish hour contract or decent pay.
32 hours / week at 40 hour pay would be interesting.
All through the dotcom collapse I kept trying to point out to employers that while they felt that I deserved at 10% raise that they could ill afford, that I would be happy reducing my hours by 10% for the same pay and they would hardly notice the difference in my output.
Specifically I was thinking about how hard it is for me to get going on Monday mornings, and how often my weekend plans were curtailed by trying to make sure that I was absolutely back in town by 8pm at the latest on Sunday night.
It doesn't take many experiences getting bumped from -or to- the last flight on Sunday to grow wary of trying to take a quick jaunt out of town. Not being expected until noon on Monday would have opened up a whole lot of options.
Anyway that's a long-winded way of saying, flexibility in contracts isn't too challenging. It's maintaining decent pay at the same time that the US seems to have trouble with, with some people having to balance multiple different jobs simultaneously because none is offering a stable 40ish hour contract or decent pay.
32 hours / week at 40 hour pay would be interesting.