Hello, Memo readers!
As multiple European countries experiment with a four-day work week, Greece has gone in the opposite direction.
Last week, the country introduced a measure for a six-day work week for some private businesses. It’s an attempt at a substantial economic turnaround: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a business-friendly center-right leader, said the country needs a longer work week as it faces a dearth of skilled workers and an aging, shrinking population.
“The nucleus of this legislation is worker-friendly, it is deeply growth-oriented,” Mitsotakis said of the effort. “And it brings Greece in line with the rest of Europe.”
The plan applies to private businesses that provide 24-hour services and some retail and agricultural workers. For some businesses in industry and manufacturing, workers can choose between adding hours to their workdays or working an extra shift. It’ll also come with more pay: Employees who work the extra eight hours will receive a 40% bump in pay during that time, and a 115% bump if the added hours fall on a holiday.
But the proposal has faced fierce backlash from unions in Greece, who say it’s an erosion of workers’ rights, quality of life, and will inevitably lead to the demise of the five-day work week. Read more about the decision here.
Pay cut for the puppies
Pets play a large role in how Americans make financial decisions — and for some younger Americans this even means they would take a pay cut for their four-legged friends.
Thirty-one percent of Gen Z pet owners in a recent survey from the financial services firm Empower said they would take a pay cut for a job that had flexible hours, giving them more time with their pets. Millennials felt the same, with 34% responding that they would reject a higher paying job to spend more time with their furry loved ones. Oh, and they’re also interested in pawternity leave.
More from Quartz
🍞 Panera’s founder is now a billionaire
💰 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold $169 million worth of stock last month — the most ever…
🤑 … while Jeff Bezos is selling $5 billion worth of Amazon stock — his fourth sale this year.
🇺🇲 More than half of young workers took a ‘quiet vacation’ for the Fourth of July…
🏄 … while Mark Zuckerberg drank beer and surfed and Elon Musk chose work.
You got the Memo
Send questions, comments, and pawternity leave to talk@qz.com. This edition of The Memo was written by Ben Kesslen, Bruce Gil, and Morgan Haefner.
