Henry Ford invented the weekend?

What if other companies took risks like this today?

I enjoyed this discussion on marketing with Rory Sutherland:

I found many of the topics interesting but the revelation that got stuck in my head was that Henry Ford was partly responsible for creating the 2 day weekend to make it more likely that people would find cars useful. Apparently, he also more than doubled the wages for his workers while also reducing the working day from 9 hours/day to 8 hours/day creating waves in the industry:

On May 1, 1926, Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies in America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour week for workers in its automotive factories. The policy would be extended to Ford’s office workers the following August. 

Henry Ford’s Detroit-based automobile company had broken ground in its labor policies before. In early 1914, against a backdrop of widespread unemployment and increasing labor unrest, Ford announced that it would pay its male factory workers a minimum wage of $5 per eight-hour day, upped from a previous rate of $2.34 for nine hours (the policy was adopted for female workers in 1916). The news shocked many in the industry—at the time, $5 per day was nearly double what the average auto worker made—but turned out to be a stroke of brilliance, immediately boosting productivity along the assembly line and building a sense of company loyalty and pride among Ford’s workers.

Maybe something similar could happen with homecare with other companies being forced to follow the lead of companies like Gotcare:

Critically, Gotcare’s home care workers are actually on the company payroll: It pays them a living wage, starting at $23 an hour, as well as EI and CPP benefits. Workers are also entitled to vacation pay, based on the number of hours worked. Ms. Xia says such an employment model gives workers the flexibility they want – they can accept or reject gigs, much like Uber drivers – but ensures they have workplace rights.

Joan Kerr, a Toronto-based personal support worker, quit her job with another home care company during the pandemic because Gotcare offered a significantly higher wage. That allowed her to work fewer hours and cultivate better relationships with her clients. Her biggest criticism of previous employers, beyond the wage issue, was that she could not negotiate her schedule directly with her clients.

“This is more relaxing. You’re not killing yourself at your job,” said Ms. Kerr, who works as many as 30 hours a week with Gotcare.

Good ideas spread and become the standard; maybe we don’t need to wait for governing bodies to accept the need for these types of changes.