Four-day workweek becoming more common in U.S.

Photo by Yandle. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Some jobs easily lend themselves to telecommuting. Office work, for one, is easily done from home, as is any job that requires nothing but a phone. Oh, and that bizarre blogging thing. But custodial work? You might not be able to mop the gym floor from your bedroom, but that doesn't mean you can't figure out a way to stay home one day a week.

Reuters has a story about a shift in the U.S. to a four-day work week, just one more response to the recent jump in gas prices. The first group of people mentioned in the story is custodial workers at Kent State University. The idea isn't new, and some employers have long offered employees the chance to work four longer days of 10 hours each instead of five "normal" days of eight hours. Nowadays, though, workers are migrating toward the shorter work week, especially in rural areas where public transportation isn't an option and commutes can be long. One new idea that could also someday become a trend: the four-day school week.

[Source: Reuters]