A CEO who left California for Texas has seized on the “ridiculous” and “absurd” proposal for a four-day working week at Golden State, arguing that the move would lead to the departure of more business leaders.
Peter Rex, CEO of Rex, a technology, investment and real estate company that moved from California to Texas three years ago to expand its national operations, said Wednesday that his company would not “thrive” under 32 hours per working week. Rex commented on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, reacting to a bill in California that would reduce the official working week from 32 hours to four days, with overtime required for anything beyond that. The requirements of the bill will apply only to employers with at least 500 employees. The bill also states that employees’ wages cannot be reduced due to reduced working hours. Assembly member Christina Garcia, one of the bill’s authors, told the Los Angeles Times that the bill was inspired by the number of people who left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and want a better quality of life than they had. before. He noted that the bill will not apply to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Fox News contributor Caitlyn Jenner discusses why people are leaving California amid high taxes. The California Chamber of Commerce has spoken out against the law, adding it to its 2022 list of “work killer” accounts. In a letter to the other author of the bill, Assembly member Evan Low, they argued that the bill would lead to increased labor costs that “would not be viable for many companies”. Rex noted that his company “can survive” in a four-day work week, “but we certainly will not be competitive” and will not flourish. “I’m really happy about this because it’s another absurd, somewhat ridiculous thing that California is doing here that will be good for America and good for the free world, because California, as a result, will continue to lose relative strength and power. “and competitiveness as an economy and people will continue to move away because business leaders like me will leave,” Ainsley Earhardt told host. INFLATION EXCEEDS LACK OF WORK AS A TOP PROBLEM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES “These are the reasons why I left,” he continued. “I built a billion-dollar company and now I’m launching 10 tech startups and doing it outside of Texas instead of the West Coast, and that’s largely because of reasons like this.” Rex moved his headquarters to Austin in 2019. REX is based outside of Austin, Texas and also has offices in Woodland Hills, California, near Los Angeles, and Redwood City in Silicon Valley. (REUTERS / Carlos Barria) “We need governments that empower people and Texas and places like Florida and other free states empower people and we can see how people thrive in this environment because corporate leaders are fighting for talent,” Rex said. that “it’s so hard to get the best talent.” “If you empower people and let them make their own decisions, leaders will naturally try, through the free market system, to do what they can to acquire the most elite talent,” he continued. GET FOX BUSINESS IN ENGINE BY CLICKING HERE “Now the reality is that if I offer a four-day weekly job, I’re not going to get the best players,” Rex added, arguing that elite talent “wants a challenge” and “wants everything in.” Rex founder and CEO Peter Rex says the new California proposal is an example of the policies that forced him to relocate his business to Texas. He went on to say that such people “create great things in the world and that is what makes America so competitive.” The Assembly has not yet voted on the bill, which has been referred to the Committee on Labor and Employment. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS FOX Business’s Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.