Deutsche Bank predicts six hour days for 'professional' jobs

Deutsche Bank researcher Luke Templeman has a vision of the future. And if you happen to be a high earning person in a professional job - like many of his colleagues at DB - it might well appeal.

Writing in the latest edition of Deutsche's 'Konzept' online magazine, Templeman envisages an imminent world where, the 'top half of the richest working households' who are simultaneously, 'in professional or office roles,' will lead a revolt against the long-hours culture and kill the eight-hour working day. 'Once proven, it [the six-hour day] will gain acceptance in wider society,' predicts Templeman. In time, the eight-hour day will be become an anachronism.

Templeman is clearly not onboard with The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits. Far from worker ever-shorter hours, the Yale University professor observes that high achievers are working longer and longer in the struggle to succeed in a winner-takes-all game. What Markovits has, however, read is Deutsche's own research into global demographics, which suggests that employees will gain the upperhand over employers and start asserting themselves as the workforce shrinks. 

Templeman's conclusions come too late for the 4,000 people who disappeared from its investment bank in the year to October, but could yet be applied to the rest of 18,000 people who stand to lose their jobs across the bank as a result of the new strategy.

If Deutsche cut working hours from an average of 74 a week in the front office (according to Wall Street Oasis) to an average of 30 a week for everyone and trimmed pay accordingly, it wouldn't need to make any job cuts at all. Unfortunately, this isn't likely to happen. Even Templeman admits that his six hour odyssey won't apply to people working in roles that involve clients. Six hour days for the middle and back office, 11 hour days for everyone else.

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