The root issue is that all of the additional productivity is captured at the top, and none of it is dispersed among the greater company. Even reinvestment is now gone, replaced with stock buybacks, which were illegal for a number of years.

In short, there’s no rising tide that lifts all boats, so debating work schedules and optimal hours is still a wasted endeavor. Labor needs an entire overhaul, or we will see a return to more drastic measures, which is the cycle that history has repeated time and again. Work, without prosperity, has no intrinsic value. Particularly when workers produce more than ever, and their efforts unmeritoriously enrich a few.