No more 40 hour work week?

When you think about getting a job after school or whenever, you probably think about the typical 9-5, 40-hour work week. For some, their weeks are over 40 hours of work. Throughout the day, you get your usual morning break, lunch break, and sometimes an afternoon break too. These can last anywhere from 15 minutes, to 45 minutes for lunch. However, do these long days with small breaks actually help in terms of productivity and efficiency? I dont think so. If you are in the middle of doing something, it is tough to just back away and go get something to eat or just relax and then come back to what you were doing. It takes you time to get back into what you were doing, figuring out where you left off. It doesnt seem like much, but it adds up, especially if this happens 2 to 3 times a day, 5 days out of the work week. Now a days, people can be so easily distracted at work because of their smartphones. I know people who go to work, and play games on their phone all day. In the job, this can seriously affect production and the quality of work, and might also be the reason people need to work more than 40 hours in a week, to pick up other peoples slack.

There are countries such as France and Germany who work less hours per week, and studies show that France has one of the best output-to-hours worked ratios in the world. They work less hours, but the quality of their work is just amazing. It seems "quality not quantity" works out pretty well for the French. Germany too. They have a very stable economy and a very low unemployment rate, which could be from working lower hours a week.

It is a tough situation for some jobs. I do heating and air conditioning when im not in school, and that work is very physical (which i love). However, whether it is in the middle of the summer or in the middle of the winter, it is tough for us to work straight through to the end of the day without a break. We are constantly climbing up ladders, carrying equipment, and doing all this work in the heat, the freezing cold, or even in the rain sometimes. Some guys dont mind working the 8 hours a day, i know i dont really mind working 8-4. In terms of productivity and efficiency, we dont lose much from taking a small break in between our work. We set ourselves up to do each job as fast as we can.

Then again, if somebody wanted to force me to work less hours a week and not hinder my pay too bad, then i guess i wouldnt really mind getting out a little extra early. But then again, if the pay doesnt change and you're offered to work less for the same, who wouldnt take that offer?