Pay walled, so won't read the actual article.
That said, I'm not sure why this is always so popularly discussed in Eng forums. The reality is, our work is inherently async, and 90% of IC's could work 1 days/week if we magically squished all our work in that time frame. Many in practice get away with a 4 day work week. My company has a no-meeting Friday and I'm full remote, if I've finished my work I just quietly take it off.
So the reality is this: a 4 day work week for IC's means either asking them to work less or forcing them into a schedule they already had access to but opted to not take.
Why would a business be incentivized to have their staff work less or force them into an uncomfortable schedule that doens't adhere as nicely to the realities of parenthood or other adult commitments.
1) not every employee at every company is a programmer, even companies that employ programmers, which most don’t.
2) not every programmer is a remote employee
3) it’s sort of weird to not read an article but comment on it and make generalizations about the working patterns of all people based entirely on your personal situation
1) Not relevant to my argument. My commentary is focussed on eng IC's, and I'm picking that subset due to my other comment about these articles always being super popular in eng circles
2) Yes, which is a separate issue. 1) Nearly all IC's should have the option to at least work remotely on some days, 2) All management should allow for their reports to take the day off if the work is complete. The fact that I get away with working a 4 days a week is a loop hole not a solution.
3) Realities of paywall articles. I'm not paying for the top ~20 news sites individual $5/month subscription. Nothing wrong with disclaiming I haven't read it and providing my thoughts on the subject. I'm highly doubtful the article contains anything new anyways, just rehashing the same half dozen arguments that have been around for 20 years, plus 1 or 2 new ones sourced from 2020. Probably includes a link to some recent study about some group trying it out and finding some success, which the author extrapolate's to the rest of the corporate world, and probably commentary from some CEO. You've read it, let me know how far off I am.
Note that 4 day work here typically implies 4×8 hours, i.e. a reduction in hours for the same pay. This is how the trial worked in the UK, and is what most groups I've seen are campaigning for.
The goal is not just to rearrange work hours around the week, but to reduce work hours overall.