An academic dreams

The 80% solution by Juliet Schor (EB)

If a company finds that it can manage fine with a class of employees working 80% of its hours, what's to prevent it from downsizing? The power of the state. She gives an argument based on economics, but I don't see such laws having their intended effects in the real world, or even having a possibility of being put into effect, but I believe that we live in an oligarchy and not in a polity in which the state (or the Democratic party) is at odds with the economic elites. (I could have said socialist state, but I don't know how much of the opposition between these two groups in socialist states is actually real. Do the same dynamics exist in Europe as in here? And if that is the case, why is it more likely to pass such legislation there rather than here?)

I'm all for job security and Americans working less hours and measures to do something about stagnant wages versus the cost of living, but I don't think this proposal approaches being an adequate start, even at the local level. Would these laws be successful in California? To whom would such laws even apply? What sort of jobs fall under the "higher-wage parts of the labor market." Those in technology might appreciate having more free time, but what is stopping continued outsourcing? How would these laws help those in FIRE who are out of work and need re-training first of all?

Spreading the work around so that the "idle" can be employed may look good on paper and practicable in the short-term, but this doesn't address the problem of sustainability. If many jobs cannot be perpetuated in the future, isn't it better to do something about it now rather than delaying it? Yes, this is even more idealistic and less likely to occur, so Professor Schor's' proposal may have more political traction.) Do we currently have a glut of unnecessary jobs? If too many people are being displaced and dispossessed because of cheap energy and the wage slave system, then what does the 80% solution do to address this?

Surprise! Bankers in the Netherlands embraced such laws (while screwing everyone else over?), along with public sector employees and academics.)