Monday, September 29, 2014

September 25: Henry Ford makes the five-day work week standard on this date in 1926

Motoramic                            

                            
 
 
 
By the time Henry Ford announced on this date in 1926 that he would make his plants and offices work on a standard five days a week rather than six, he had already drawn the ire of other industrialists for doubling his workers' pay to $5 for an eight-hour day.
 
 The moves weren't altruistic; Ford expected the same level of production from his workers in less time, and believed if he paid them well, he'd create a bigger market for his cars. But his attitudes were generous compared to the view of many Gilded Age bosses who believed most workers would use any off hours to get drunk.
 
 Any concern Ford had about that was eased by Prohibition, and because Ford was one of the world's largest manufacturers, most of its suppliers immediately followed suit — making the five-day week a standard for the country.
 
Ford would explain a month later a lesson some executives struggle with today: "The harder we crowd business for time, the more efficient it becomes. The more well-paid leisure workmen get, the greater become their wants. These wants soon become needs.
 
Well-managed business pays high wages and sells at low prices. Its workmen have the leisure to enjoy life and the wherewithal with which to finance that enjoyment."

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