Ah, the summer Friday. Ed remembers when he was a whippersnapper summer intern and his editor told him he was free to leave at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoons. “Wow,” Ed thought. “What a job!”
But many editors (and interns!) say it ain’t so anymore. It turns out magazines aren’t just scaling back their budgets, they’re reigning in their staffers’ summer hours too.
According to this New York Times article, Martha Stewart Living, Elle, In Style, and others have all trimmed their summer hours this year.
In a country that already complains about its scarce vacation time—especially compared to Europe—shortened summer hours gave overworked and underpaid magazine staffs a well-deserved green light to hit the beach early, and indulge in a longish weekend. It’s sad to see that go.
So, Edsters, how are summer hours at your magazine? Do you have a set number of predetermined half-days? Have the summer hour scale-backs hit your publication yet? Do you get any time off for good behavior in the summer? Ed wants to know.
Wishing you a tall lemonade and a shorter work week,
Ed
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3 comments:
It's there in theory. Most of the time, though, when deadlines are looming, we don't actually get those Fridays off. Instead, we add up those hours and take a day off later. It works out in the end, I believe.
At my office, every friday has a 3 p.m. dismissal, provided each employee has worked his or her required hours for the week. The assumption is that all necessary work is completed before the employee leaves for the weekend.
My office closes at 12:30, but we do have to make those hours up during the week, as in no lunch hour. Well worth the sacrifice for a longer weekend in my opinion though.
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