The obvious question: Why are we working five days a week?

As South Africans, we know how the year works.

You start with a couple of intense months, but then once you reach March, you get into public holiday season, and you’re unlikely to work a five-day week until about June!

This is when we are at our best. In terms of work, we somehow manage to power through the week at full productivity, eyes always on the prize of a long weekend, starting on Friday. Ideally the next Monday is a holiday too, and we’re able to emerge invigorated for another four-day spurt!

Precisely what the reasons for the holidays are, is almost beside the point. Some of them appear to be Easter, there’s a Human Rights Day in there, Workers Day, Youth Day, Freedom Day, and perhaps another one.

Q2 of the South African economic year is riddled with holidays and perhaps not presenteeism’s finest moment. However, I have never hear it said that all of those public holidays negatively affect GDP.

A glance at quarterly year-on-year growth stats shows we have in fact had some stellar Q2’s over the years, and trends unfold seemingly unaffected by how many public holidays there are.

My productivity…

This raises the obvious question: Why are we working five days a week?

I’m no slacker, and I have a decent work ethic. But I can confirm that when Q2 peters out and we have to work five-day weeks again, my motivation – and my productivity – takes a serious knock.

I can confirm that I achieve the same amount in four days as I would in five. The same may be true for many of us.
This appears to be the conviction in many other parts of the world. From Spain to Germany, countries are trialling or flirting with the idea of the four-day week. Companies too!

Following learnings from the remote-work experiences of the pandemic, PWC recently announced its UK staff would henceforth have Friday afternoons off – which seriously imperils Friday morning as a bastion of workiness.

The pandemic, and the lockdown, are forcing us to question so many aspects of the economic status quo. Why do we work five days a week? Why do we commute to offices? Why, indeed, do we work?

Many of the answers we once took to be self-evident, are now losing their relevance.

On a laptop in tracksuit pants…

The days of the central office are numbered. Ditto the work commute, the idea of “office hours” and indeed the idea of a profession defining who we are. It’s hard, after all, to be elitist about your particular job, when just about every working professional these days is sitting in a lounge, on a laptop in tracksuit pants!

At the same time, employment rates have plunged. Depending on how you define it, 30-40% of South Africa’s workforce is unemployed. The prospects of generating enough economic growth to provide those millions of people with worthwhile jobs is frankly laughable.

They are likely to remain fighting for survival, relying on their own hustle, as well as whatever government grants they may qualify for.

Are these people any less able than we fortunate few who are able to earn through work? Of course not! They are simply less lucky, because they were not born into the privilege that gave them access to education, networks and financial assets.

Universal Income Grant…

To exclude them from the economy and force them into a life of desperation is callous, elitist and borderline racist. These fellow Africans are no less entitled to an income than we smug, lounge-dwelling professionals.

So, how about providing them with an income? While we’re questioning the idea of five-day work weeks and coming to the office, should we not also question the idea of “working for an income”?

While much of what we do has economic value, the work that many unemployed people do also has value!

Childcare, domestic work, community activism… all of this has serious economic value, but is simply not compensated because of the structure of our economic system.

In fact, sometimes the social and community commitments of poor people – looking after children, for instance – actively prevent them from finding work.

The solution may be the Universal Income Grant idea, which is steadily gaining currency across the planet. This involves paying everyone a living wage, because they’re members of our society, not just of the so-called “workforce”.

Universal income grants would be significant. For instance R5 000 a month, compared to childcare and pandemic grants which are a few hundred. This amount of money allows people to meet their living needs, and also inject money back into the economy through purchases.

While the costs to the state of providing UIG will be large, the multiplier benefits will be enormous. These grants will not be saved, or hoarded, but spent, generating income, which can all be taxed, for the benefit of the state. They will also be invested in personal development, training and job searches. They’ll also be able to continue making unpaid contributions to their families and their communities without starving!

Work, employment and income all need to be rethought. We cannot continue to marginalise most of our population because they do not have the privilege required to enter the formal economy.

I believe we can help people enter the formal economy first, and we will be repaid through richer human capital, greater quality of life, less desperation and economy growth later.

Hagen Engler.

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