Henry Ford brought the 40-hour workweek to the Western world nearly a century ago, believing that giving workers eight hours of labor, eight hours of recreation, and eight hours of rest would improve retention and morale.
However, between commutes, school runs, and last-minute holdbacks at the office, it took a pandemic-induced global shutdown to realize that 8-8-8 had slowly morphed into something more like 12-6-6. Working from home briefly allowed workers to claw back some of that time.
