The Italian edition of Post-Work looks phenomenal. Out on May 1st!

deriveapprodi.com/libro/la-soc...

Switching to a four-day week ‘could save councils £1bn a year’ Campaigners claim a four-day week could save cash-strapped councils £1bn a year to reinvest into public services and boost staff.

"I’d urge the government to be open-minded to the benefits of a four-day week and empower councils to be innovative when it comes to workforce flexibility, freeing up cash that could be spent on services"

– @mayaellismp.bsky.social on our latest 4DW report 👇

www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

My exclusive today in @bigissue.com

Important new analysis from the Autonomy team and Rob Calvert Jump here.

The leading four-day week council (South Cambridgeshire) indicates exactly what kinds of savings a 4DW could bring if scaled up across the country: £1 billion.

Britain's shadow workforce is paid as little as 65p an hour. Who cares for the carers? | Frances Ryan Carer’s allowance turns 50 this year, but it’s no reflection of the labour of the millions who cook, clean and nurse behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

The start of this article is really pertinent. Why is the unpaid care of families seen as a duty but no other aspects of life not? Britain's shadow workforce is paid as little as 65p an hour. Who cares for the carers? | Frances Ryan www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This one will be really good 👇

Yeah I agree - and of course the US could well be the future we're seeing ahead of us, from over here in the UK.

I think the goalposts have moved: the substitute calls for "more free services" or "more jobs" have become less urgent (less immediately relevant) in light of the shocks our economies face.

It really is at odds with our times to write against universal income support. Which I think is a shift.

Side note: it does feel like even the most diehard anti-UBI people are beginning to accept that it will be necessary in today's era. Just owned and delivered by public institutions through taxation.

When Abundance Becomes Undertow A critical reflection on Solve Everything, UBI, UHI, and the privatization of the social contract

"Nor is private wealth the same as a durable public revenue system".

This is a good essay on the wafer thin abundance discourse.

medium.com/@paul_45306/...

Kicking off the latest Forum 2029 event with @autonomy-institute.bsky.social here in Bethnal Green.

"a fightback against technological exploitation will be found not in the complete rejection of technology, but in the short-circuiting of one kind of technology and the development of another"

Our researcher @liammullally.bsky.social writing in @disjunctionsmag.bsky.social.

Come through!

The ethics of extension: policies of ownership and control for our cognitive apparatuses In this blog, Will Stronge explores how an ‘extended view’ of human minds can help us critically engage with the role of Big Tech in our everyday lives.

"What does it mean to say that I pay a monthly rent to access part of my (extended) mind – as I do when I sign a two-year contract for a Google phone?... Should I have a say in how my extended mind is designed?..."

✒️ @wstronge.bsky.social

buff.ly/i33mtvT

Don Mark Ruffalo Parera

HPC data shows the FTSE 100 CEO just over two days to earn the median UK worker’s full time annual salary. Average CEO pay is £4.4m — 113× the median worker’s salary of £39,039.

With long-term wage stagnation, how can this possibly be justified?

highpaycentre.org/fat-cat-day-...

Alcanzamos un acuerdo con sindicatos para ampliar los permisos por fallecimientos y cuidados paliativos.

Despedirse y llorar sin fichar no solo es un derecho, también es sentido común.

Mexico to increase minimum wage and shorten work week The 2026 minimum wage increase will bring the accumulated rise in salaries to 154 percent since 2018

Good news from Mexico:

The government will: "incrementally trim the working week from 48 hours a week to 40 hours per week by 2030. If passed, the official working week limit would be reduced two hours a year starting in 2027"

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

1852: morning prayers, no talking, working hours reduced though!

Employer: we are going to need one heck of a productivity boost "to compensate for these utopian conditions".

CADA - a STEM research network for change CADA is a network for STEM practitioners to build real world impact.

The paper looks at decades of council expenditure data from London councils: how far as Big Con deepened our local authorities' dependencies on their services, and how much does it cost us all?

To sign up to CADA to join our next projects go here:

autonomy.work/cada/

This report is coming out very soon.

It was pursued and led by our CADA Network of scientists, tech workers and other STEM-related practitioners.

It was inspired by 'The Big Con' book by
@rosiecollington.bsky.social &
@mazzucatom.bsky.social.

It's a fantastic piece of work!

👏 cool to see you back in the writing saddle mate.

this is incredibly lucid and valuable research.

NEW RESEARCH: Givers and takers - to what extent do private companies benefit when they donate to political parties?

The findings are stark.

Link to study here:

autonomy.work/portfolio/gi...

Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Explainer:

Yeah I'm already a subscriber: thanks for the link to the paper!

Finished this little book from 2017 by @nafeez.bsky.social and it's really insightful.

I'd love to read an updated version, or another book on EROI's relationship to political volatility in 2025.

Mr Blobby patriotism Over recent weeks I have found myself thinking about the country we live in, what it feels like and what I like, and love, about it. I guess I found myself thinking about this because of the summer w...

At a time when patriotism can feel as as contested as ever, this is a bloody lovely ode to so much of what we love about Britain from @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social.

Well worth a read 👉 renewal.org.uk/blog/mr-blob...

Our new #UBSHub podcast series exploring 'Public Luxury' has launched ⏳

Here's a taster of an upcoming episode with Hugh Smith from Camden Council talking about their approach to #UBS at the municipal level👇

Listen to the first episode: buff.ly/AWMYSVo

Almost half of all Scottish workers — 1.3 million jobs — could shift to a #4DayWeek in the next decade 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Our latest report, commissioned by Scottish Government, analyses the potential to reduce working time across the country 👇

buff.ly/BScxBf7

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.