Were there corporate leaders of the early twentieth century that instituted shorter working hours?
There were some companies particularly in the 1920s that decided long hours would undermine their work forces through the long-term effects of long hours. Companies like General Electric and U.S. Rubber. Employers decided the way to maximize their labor pools was not by long hours, but by winning them over. In this era, employers stressed it was in employees’ best interest to be as productive as possible. Through this concept of welfare capitalism, companies became benefactors; and employees gained shorter work hours, but also sick benefits and health insurance. Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company espoused the idea that if you made these concessions, you could actually put greater demands on employees. When Ford created the five-day workweek (instead of six) people thought he was a radical, but he proved that he could achieve as much in production in five days as six. But when the Great Depression hit, unemployment rose and workforce contentment became less of a concern, less of a need fo
