I haven't seen anyone else use the phrase, so I will blockchain claim it as mine for the time being. It is interesting to think that in some future, this is how patent disputes could be worked out - who blockchained it first?

Today was a furlough day

Supposedly, but I was booked into a customer meeting during the middle of the day and because it was client side and they had already accepted, I couldn't pull out of it. The trouble is at the moment that just about everyone in the company is on some percentage of furlough, but it is being taken at all kinds of random times and even though it should be marked in the calendars, people don't tend to check so attentively.

3 day weeks

I am on three day weeks for about the next three months and will likely have one to two weeks of full layoff at some point following. While I am definitely not excited to get the paychecks, I don't mind the short weeks, even if they are occasionally split into two weekends.

A few years back some Swedish companies trialed shorter working days and found that productivity remained the same or went up, which is likely due to people being able to focus better as well as less "work fatigue" that increases lethargy or drives employees onto social media.

UBI (You be I?)

I think that in the future, this is also a possibility to keep people employed, as dropping the working time on average could lead to opening up spaces for others. For example, for every 4 people who move from a five to a four day week, one more person could fill the other 4 days - this would give everyone a three day weekend by default.

"You be I for a day, so I can go home".

But of course, companies aren't going to want to pay the same amount for less time put in, even if productivity remains the same, so while more people are working, salaries would drop some percentage also. I think this is where Universal Basic Income would come into play as a stopgap measure to both fill the income shortfall for those that took the reduced hours.

Because of continued automation of industry, less people are needed in the workforce, but it isn't (at least at this point) possible to have people just do nothing. There has to be an incentive to keep working and UBI should encourage work, not encourage people to do less in life and have less opportunity.

For instance, going to a four day week could be supported by further education programs that fill the fifth day with course to reskill or even better, advance a skill in a hobby area. With an extra day on the hands, "I don't have the time" becomes an excuse only.

Just a matter of time

But it is these excuses that we have and no matter how much extra time we might get, we tend to use time poorly. Many people don't use their commute time very well in my opinion, as it is essentially dead and mindless time that could be utilized for something other than scrolling Facebook or listening to the radio. Podcasts, eBooks, online courses are all available - and there are suitable mediums for all kinds of commutes. I personally prefer podcasts as my travel default - with switching to music an intentional decision.

I see skill development as personal investment, as it adds or develops a line of thought or practical skill into an area where there is the potential for a return of some kind. Not all returns are financial of course, there are social returns too for things like learning how to speak well publicly or even something as simple as personal hygiene or grooming. People don't tend to think about the social costs of the way they appear, even though we walk through the world judging everyone else on their own appearance - it is a weird contradiction in perspective.

It is likely that a lot of people (including myself) have changed some of our habits since the lockdown periods started if we were accustomed to going into an office. I know that for me, I have been wearing track pants when I do head in, something I had never done before. If this is what it is like after a few weeks, what would happen if I was long-term unemployed?

Heart at home, but opportunity?

I think that while it would be great to sit around at home doing whatever I pleased for some period of time, that is not where the randomness of experience introduces most of our opportunity. Working in areas that encourage some level of uncertainty and social mixing brings with it a lot of new potentials, kind of like being single at the local tango hall.

But to take advantage of potential, you have to know how to dance.

Skill development again. It doesn't really matter what you would have invested into if you had the money, because not having the resources excludes the opportunity. "I would have married that woman, if I was the kind of person that she would marry..."

Identified opportunity is only the start of the investment period, one still has to have the resources and then the willingness to invest into it - which often comes with risks of some kind, uncertainty. It doesn't matter how brilliant we are at the identification process, if we do not have the prerequisites to take the leap in to the waters, it will pass us by.

So, what are you doing on your furlough, during your lockdown, with any extra time or money you may have? Is it furlough for furlough, or are you preparing for new opportunities?

Home is where the heart is and it is also where the start of every investment is made.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]