The 20-somethings who answer the phones on Capitol Hill are having a tough time with their work-life balance.
The Congressional Progressive Staff Association is calling on lawmakers to drop their 40-hour work week. Instead, they said they would be much happier working 32-hours a week — without any reduction in pay.
“We do not want a 32-hour workweek to just be another special benefit for Congressional staff,” the group said in its letter. “We hope that by adopting this policy, Members of Congress can help to advance the discussion around a more sustainable workweek as a national priority and model how it can work for private and public employers across the country and the world.”
It’s always something with this generation. Their mandatory mental health days are driving the rest of us slap crazy.
“The CPSA has no expectations for a sweeping policy change on the Hill; they just want a few members to experiment with a shortened workweek in their offices or committees. “We’re urging members to give it a shot, to pilot it for a six-month period,” CPSA spokesman Michael Suchecki told RollCall.com. “If it doesn’t work 100 percent, bring it back to the way it was.”
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The salaries for Capitol Hill staffers ranges from more than $57,000 for a staff assistant to $187,000 for a chief of staff, according to the Congressional Research Service. They also get healthcare, dental and vision. And they get discounted gym memberships and a stipend for those who use public transportation.
The 40-hour work week was made popular by Henry Ford in the 1920’s. But an 8-hour work day became the law of the land in 1938 when FDR signed the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Prior to that many Americans worked up to 60 hours a week – six days a week. It was something this nation once took pride in – the red-blooded American work ethic.
Sadly, we’ve raised at least two generations of Americans that don’t appreciate the value of a hard day’s work. There’s just not too many sweat-stained t-shirts in this new crop of young people. And many of them found gainful employment in Congress.
The demands of the Gen-Z staffers have generated bipartisan mockery on Capitol Hill.
“Why not be bold and ask for a 0-hour workweek? I wonder how blue-collar Americans would feel about white-collar workers demanding a 32-hour workweek,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote on X.
Of course, there’s a simple solution to the perpetually-entitled Gen-Z staffers tethered to their smartphones. Just convert all congressional staffing positions to part time status – that way they’ll get a 20-hour work week. Or, we could just hire some H1B visa kids.
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